Oliver Haslam·

82% Of U.S. Teenagers Own An iPhone, According To Survey

One conundrum that many parents tussle with these days is when the right time may or may not be to allow their kids to get a phone. Those of us who grew up before the arrival of the mobile phone, much less smartphones, did not have this problem but with social media and even schoolwork now very much tied to smartphones and tablets, more and more kids are asking for and indeed, receiving, their first smartphone.

According to a new report by Piper Jaffray, four out of five U.S. teenagers already own an iPhone, and the number is on the rise.

As of spring of 2014, the number was around 60% of teenagers, with that now sitting at a massive 82% according to the report, which is run twice yearly and has been for the past four years. The increase from 78% last year to today’s 82% is one that shows just how quickly teenagers are picking up iPhones, too.

iPhone ownership among teens could go even higher – 84% of teens say their next phone will be an iPhone.

The enduring popularity of the iPhone in America’s high schools may also be leading to a boom in Apple Watch interest. 20% of teens plan to buy an Apple Watch in the next 6 months, and Apple is the 2nd-most desired brand among upper-income teens, behind only Rolex, according to the survey.

While it is obviously impossible to get numbers that are 100% representative when carrying out surveys like this, Piper Jaffray says that its own survey consisted of thousands of teens across 40 different states. We didn’t need a survey to know that iPhones are popular among teenagers, though, and with the iPhone SE and long-living older iPhones proving popular alongside the flagship, high-end devices there is plenty of choice in the iPhone lineup right now, giving parents an option at plenty of price points.

That’s likely to increase later this year with the potential for three new handsets being announced in or around September.

(Via: Bloomberg)

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