82% of Teens Surveyed Now Own an iPhone, 84% Plan to Purchase

The iPhone continues to be the most popular smartphone by far among teens, according to new data gathered by investment firm Piper Jaffray for its most recent semiannual teen survey in the United States.

82 percent of teens surveyed own an iPhone, up from 78 percent in the fall of 2017, while 84 percent of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, up from 82 percent in fall 2017. Teen ownership and interest in iPhone has grown steadily over the past several years, as demonstrated in the chart below.

piperjaffrayiphoneownership
The Apple Watch is also becoming more popular among teens and saw its highest teen survey share yet in the spring of 2018. 12 percent of upper income teens said Apple Watch was their preferred watch brand, up from just seven percent in the fall of 2017. Among all watch brands, Apple Watch was the second most popular after Rolex.

applewatchownership
20 percent of teens said they plan to buy an Apple Watch in the next six months, up from 17 percent in the year-ago survey. Strong growth in Apple Watch interest in the current quarter suggests Apple's Series 3 and Series 1 models are popular among teens.

piperjaffrayapplewatchintention
Interest in both Apple Watch and iPhone could see improvement in the coming fall 2018 survey, as major changes are rumored for both devices.

The Apple Watch Series 4 could bring the first design changes for the wrist-worn device, while rumors suggest Apple will be introducing three iPhones in 2018, including a 5.8-inch iPhone X followup, a larger 6.5-inch OLED device that can be thought of as an "iPhone X Plus" and a 6.1-inch LCD device that's expected to carry a lower price tag.

All three iPhones are rumored to include an iPhone X-style design with an edge-to-edge display that does away with Touch ID in favor of Face ID.

For the spring 2018 teen survey, Piper Jaffray surveyed a total of 6,000 teens with an average age of 16.4 and an average household income of $66,296. 45 percent of teens surveyed were female, while 55 percent were male.

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Top Rated Comments

555gallardo Avatar
84 months ago
Why would anyone in the world compare students' interest in $300 Apple Watch versus $50000 Patek Philipe?
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
reden Avatar
84 months ago
Those green bubbles, and can’t be part of a group message is what makes everyone without an iPhone feel like an outsider. It’s brilliant and Apple doesn’t have to spend a dime to advertise that.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WhoDaKat Avatar
84 months ago

If this says 12% of teenagers had a Apple Watch in 2018, does that mean 41% of teenagers have a Rolex? Something doesn't smell right.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
'Arry Avatar
84 months ago
82% of surveyed teens have a totally hot girlfriend. She lives in Canada. You wouldn’t know her.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jclo Avatar
84 months ago

If this says 12% of teenagers had a Apple Watch in 2018, does that mean 41% of teenagers have a Rolex? Something doesn't smell right.
I clarified this in the post. This is specific to "upper income" teens and it looks like it's actually brand preference rather than actual ownership. It was poor wording on my part in the original, and I am pretty sure 41 percent of teens don't have a Rolex. Sorry for any misunderstanding here -- hope that clears it up.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Greenmeenie Avatar
84 months ago
Apple should launch their own version of facebook. One that doesnt data mine or run ads. With such a large and growing user base, it seems like a no brainer to me. Tim Cook spoke Friday about how their customers aren’t their product and how he wouldn’t be in a situation like Zuckerberg finds himself in, so why not launch your own social media app and capatilize on FaceBooks troubles?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)