The iPhone and the Apple Watch continue to be dominatingly popular with U.S. teens. However, Apple Music and Apple TV+ don’t fare as well with the group.
According to Piper Sandler’s biannual “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, 85% of U.S. teens surveyed currently own an iPhone, while 86% are planning to buy Apple’s smartphone when they purchase their next smartphone.
iPhone ownership among the group did slip slightly from the last survey (October 2023), when 87% of teens surveyed owned an iPhone and 88% planned to purchase one when it was time.
Both the 85% iPhone ownership and 86% intention to purchase an iPhone metrics are near record highs for our survey but down from record levels in 2021. We believe the elevated penetration and purchase intention are important given the mature premium smartphone market. Additionally, trends towards premium tier phones are encouraging as the company continues to introduce new iPhones proving the overall stickiness of the product portfolio. Finally, positive trends in services could follow, as the install base for Apple hardware continues to grow.
As for the Apple Watch’s popularity among U.S. teens, 34% own one, which is the same as six months ago. The number of respondents planning on buying an Apple Watch inched up 3% from previously, and 13% have plans to buy an Apple Watch sometime in the next six months. 39.4% of teens own a smartwatch. In the watch market overall, the Apple Watch snagged first place, with Rolex and Casio filling out the top three.
Apple Music and Apple TV don’t fare as well among U.S. teens, as close to two-thirds of survey respondents said Spotify was their music streamer of choice, and just a bit over 30% of teens said they used Apple Music. Meanwhile, less than 5% of those surveyed reported watching Apple TV+ content daily. Over 30% said they watched Netflix daily, with nearly 30% doing the same with YouTube.
Apple Pay fared well among teens, with 44% saying they had used it in the last month. However, Venmo and Cash app were the most popular payment services for peer-to-peer payments.
6,020 teens in 47 U.S. states were surveyed by Piper Sandler to compile its spring 2024 report.
