Survey Reveals One-Third High School Students Own An iPhone

A survey taken recently by analyst Gene Munster discovered that one-third high school students own an iPhone. Gene reported his findings of the semi-annual survey just earlier today. His research firm has accounted for 23 such surveys in their history. The survey consisted of 5,600 high school students in the United States, and consisted of one simple question, “Do you own an iPhone”.  Nearly 34 percent of the answers consisted of yes’es. The students that answered no were asked if they intend on purchasing an iPhone during the next 6 months, and 40 percent answered yes.

The results of the survey wasn’t much of a curveball as you might be thinking. Apples products are appealing to teenagers, and teens are known to be ‘followers’ and love to have the hottest product on the market. When the iPhones price dropped in retail value this past fall it wasn’t a surprise many teens went for the iPhone. The iPhone 3GS can be bought for free with a contract at select carriers, while the iPhone 4 costs around $99.

In our most recent survey the percentage of teens that own an iPhone came in at 34%, up from 23% in the Fall and 17% last Spring. We believe the meaningful uptick in iPhone ownership among teens may be driven by the cheaper $49 iPhone 3GS (in some cases free)

Later in the survey students were asked if they owned a tablet. Once again, 34 percent answered yes, but they aren’t necessarily the same iPhone owners. Out of the 34 percent, 70 percent of the tablet owners have an iPad. Out of the iPad owners, 53 percent own iPhones. Students who don’t own an iPad were asked if they plan on purchasing one in the next 6 months, only 19 percent answered yes.

In our Spring 2012 survey, 34% of students owned a tablet computer (same percentage as iPhones), up from 29% in Fall 2011 and 22% last Spring. Of those tablet owners, 70% owned iPads, 19% owned Android tablets, and 11% owned Kindle Fires. 53% of iPad owners also owned an iPhone, demonstrating the halo effect of entry devices like the iPhone.

The survey was than completed, and it was interesting to see that many students could afford to purchase these expensive phones and tablets. For a high school student a monthly data-plan charge can be a huge commitment. Even the entry level iPad 2 is quite a volume of cash for a teenager, starting at $399.

Do you own an iPhone or tablet?