Teen iPhone Ownership Hits an All-Time High in Long-Running Survey

The iPhone continues to be the most popular smartphone among U.S. teens, a title that it has held for many years, according to new data gathered by investment firm Piper Sandler for its most recent semiannual teen survey in the United States.

85 percent of teens surveyed own an ‌iPhone‌, and 88 percent expect an ‌iPhone‌ to be their next phone, both of which are new all-time survey highs, but it's worth keeping in mind that most of these respondents are from higher-income families. Last year, 83 percent of teens surveyed owned an ‌iPhone‌, and 86 percent planned to purchase.

8 percent of teens said they planned to purchase an Android, down from 10 percent in the year-ago survey.

Teen interest in the ‌iPhone‌ has been strong since the beginning of these surveys, but has grown steadily every year. In 2020, Apple is expected to release 5G iPhones and a new, more affordable iPhone SE option, which could cause teen ‌iPhone‌ adoption numbers to grow even further.

This year's survey also took a look at the AirPods. 52 percent of teens said that they own a set of ‌AirPods‌, and of those that don't own ‌AirPods‌, 18 percent plan to purchase them within a year.

Teen customers are important to Apple as brand loyalty will inspire them to continue purchasing products in the Apple ecosystem for years to come.

Piper Sandler's "Taking Stock With Teens" survey asked 5,200 teenagers with an average age of 16.2 and a median household income of $65,600 about their purchasing habits and brand preferences. Piper Jaffray merged with Sandler O'Neill earlier this year, hence the new name, but this survey as been ongoing since 2001.