iPod #1 with American Teens, Survey Shows
First on TMO - iPod #1 with American Teens, Survey Shows
by , 8:00 AM EDT, April 6th, 2005
The Apple iPod remains the number one digital media device among American teenagers by a significant margin, a new survey of 11 U.S. high schools conducted by analysts at the investment firm Piper Jaffray & Co. reported Wednesday.
In its bi-annual 'Taking Stock With Teens' survey obtained by The Mac Observer, research analysts Michael Olson and Gene Munster found that of 518 students, the number of kids owning an iPod had risen dramatically. 56% said they owned an iPod, compared to 40% as reported in the company's Fall survey. The next closest competitor in the current survey was Sony, which was chosen by 14% of device owners, followed by iRiver at 7% and Rio at 5%. 17% of respondents said they owned others brands, including Dell and Creative.
41% of students indicated they own some sort of portable digital audio player versus 59% who said they did not own such a device.
But it was numbers of those planning to buy in the near future that were just as interesting: Of the 59% of students expecting to purchase a device within the next year, 70% expect to buy an iPod. While that number was the same in the Fall survey, only 46% of students were looking to buy a device at that time.
15% of students that expect to buy a device indicating that it will be a Sony, followed by other miscellaneous brands at 4%, Dell and Rio at 3% each and Creative together with iRiver at 1% each.
"Despite a material increase in market penetration over the last two to three quarters, a significantly higher portion of teens expect to buy a device over the next year versus those who said last Fall that they expected to make a similar purchase within the next 12 months," the analysts concluded.
For teens, the pricing 'sweet spot' for digital audio players remains between US$100 and $199, with the survey indicating 39% of teens would spend in that range. For Apple, that could be good news as it presently sells three models within that price range.
28% of teens said they would pay less than $100, 27% would pay $200 to $300, and 6% said they would pay $300 or more.
Interestingly, the teens indicated they are willing to pay for capacity. Specifically, 65% indicated that they would rather pay $250 for a device that holds 1,000 songs versus 35% who said they would rather pay $150 for a device with a 250-song capacity.
"In our view, the key takeaways from this survey are the digital audio market is gaining more steam among this 14 to 18 year old demographic, and (the) iPod remains significantly ahead of competition in both marketshare and mindshare," the analysts concluded.
The average age of the students in the survey was 16.8 years old, with an average household income of $72,000. The gender breakdown was 38% male and 62% female.
Observer Comments
No doubt these kids are caught in Steve's RDF, since they will have to license low-quality DRM-infected songs that Apple can change your rights to without notice. Don't they know that they can get a player that isn't designed as well, and will allow you to license low-quality DRM-infected songs that non-Apple stores can change your rights without notice?
Sorry, gang, just wanted to take a crack at guessing what drivel RC will post to refute the results of the survey.
Well said! It's always surprised me that RC and his cadre missed the fact that the iTMS competitors are also selling DRM "infested" songs at the same bit rate.
Now, a math question: If 56% of the students said they owned an iPod, how could only 41% own "some sort of portable digital audio player"? Or should the article state that of the 41% that own a PDAP (we need a good acronym or term here), 56% own an iPod.
Blah blah blah Apple is doomed blah blah blah DRM low quality blah blah blah Apple is a closed system blah blah blah iLemmings blah blah blah Steve is an idiot blah blah blah Apple is doomed blah blah blah my mom's basement blah blah blah Battery life blah blah blah. Apple is doomed blah blah blah.
QuoteGuest wrote:
No doubt these kids are caught in Steve's RDF, since they will have to license low-quality DRM-infected songs that Apple can change your rights to without notice. Don't they know that they can get a player that isn't designed as well, and will allow you to license low-quality DRM-infected songs that non-Apple stores can change your rights without notice?
Sorry, gang, just wanted to take a crack at guessing what drivel RC will post to refute the results of the survey.
Agreed... High Schoolers (as well as Middle/Jr. High/Grammar Schooler's will simply rip/lend/borrow/copy friends/family/classmates/etc. CD's instead of buying on line unless they can't find a particular track/album. There are simply too few dollars chasing to many wish/want/need items in most kid's lives for them to be buying schtuff on-line when there are cheaper alternatives close at hand.
Hano
Here's a fun game to play. (Just don't do it at the office, might not be a good thing. Not while driving either.)
First, you have to buy really cheap wine, preferably something that comes in a large box and not a bottle. Cheap wine is what RC is known for.
Here's the rules:
* Everytime RC post a link to another website, take one shot.
* Everytime he insults Steve Jobs, take one shot.
* Everytime he insults mac users, take one shot.
* Everytime he says iTunes and/or the iPod is a bad thing, take one shot.
* Everytime he proclaims Windows/Bill Gates/WMA/Napster/etc; is better, take one shot.
PLEASE NOTE: Reading multiple post by RC may result in dizzyness and slurred speach. Do not opperate heavy machinery (plains, trains, automobiles) while participating in this game.
CAUTION: Cheap wine may cause you to vomit.
Have fun!
Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:26 am Subject: Re: re: Dumb Kids
Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:52 am Subject: American Teens are Doomed! Shame on Steve Jobs!
Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:08 pm Subject: Re: math question
Quoterea1itycheck wrote:
Teenagers with disposable income shouldn't be targeted by Apple. These kids should be putting away their money for drugs and alcohol. How are they going to learn how much fun it is to drink and pass out!? I did it as a kid and I turned out OK.
RealityCheck
Ok. This is the first time I can relate to RC.
Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:03 pm Subject: Let me rephrase that headline...
"iPod #1 with humans, 99% of subsets thereof"
C'mon, nobody needs a survey to know this stuff. 
The percentages of students with iPods/other brands listed in the article must be of the students who owned any such device at all. If you total up the numbers listed, it comes up to 100% (well, actually, it comes up to 99, but I guess there are some rounded fractions there). The article could be reworded to make this clearer. I'm guessing that Mr. Gibson meant to say "...of the 518 students in the survey who own digital music players..." rather than "...of 518 students...".
Am I the only one surprised by the gender breakdown? 38 male, 62 female. Seems a little unbalanced, doesn't it? Or has the male dropout rate really tipped the scales so much?
the study is completely right. iPods are really hot right now. at least thirty percent of the students at my school have an iPod, and the number is quickly growing. I want an iPod more than food for three day's (but not four, chili fries are scheduled for school lunch in four days.)
Karl Oscar Weber
Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:51 pm Subject: more interestingly
This type of survey is good news for Apple.
These kids are getting exposed to the Apple experience at a young age. When they get a bit older and want a computer, where will they look first? Hopefully to Apple!
This way Apple will be completely circumnavigating the existing PC users who have a bias against Apple. They are aiming at the future market of computer buyers!
Wow! Think I will buy some Apple shares!
mrhooks wrote:
QuoteRe: math question
Yeah, the wording is a little confusing. I took it to mean there were 518 students who owned players, with 518 being 41% of the total number of teens surveyed.
From the info (and only the info) in the TMO article we can assume this - percentages were rounded up or down, otherwise 118.72 kids owned an iPod (wouldn't you hate to be the parent of that .72 child)!
On to the math:
Of the 518 kids surveyed-41% own a portable digital audio player (heretowith referred to as a pdap)
or 518 X .41 ~ 212 own a pdap.
518 X .59 ~306 don't own a pdap of any kind.
Of the 212 that do own a pdap - 56% of them own an iPod
or 212 X .56 ~ 119 own an iPod.
212 X .14 ~ 30 own a Sony.
212 X .07 ~ 15 own a iRiver.
212 X .05 ~ 11 own a Rio.
212 X .17 ~ 36 own an ALSO RAN (Dell, Creative, etc...).
Again, using the numbers given in the article, these are the numbers you get (the percentages only add up to 99%).
Apple is doing just fine at the moment, and I'm sure quite a few of those 306 people that don't own a "pdap" yet will probably pick an iPod.
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