
Survey: 83% of US teens have an iPhone, Android 9% - tpush
https://www.scribd.com/document/405454631/Taking-Stock-With-Teens-Spring-2019
======
coolreader18
As a student at a middle to upper class high school, I can say that it's
definitely not about the actual features of iOS vs Android -- it's just a
status symbol. People with iPhones are considered slightly "cooler", or at the
very least it's more hip to have an iPhone than an Android. Apple's walled
garden contributes to its dominance as well, if all your friends are using
FaceTime and iMessage, there's not much that might influence someone to pick
an Android phone than economic reasons. Speaking of which, the iPhone vs
Android debate among teens really boils down to a thinly veiled version of
classism (in my opinion). I heard a classmate respond to a question of what
kind of phone she had with, "an iPhone, but it's a 6, so it's pretty much a
Droid." (I'm not sure where the 2008 terminology came from, but still.)

~~~
chrisseaton
Maybe these people just like iPhones and it's not some big cynical setup?

~~~
coolreader18
Perhaps, but somebody in one of my classes had jailbroken his iPhone and was
showing off his fancy home screen, which would have been pretty par for the
course for a custom Android home screen, and everybody was oohing and ahhing
at how cool it was. Really just anecdotal, but I don't think iPhones are more
popular purely because they've considered both options and chosen the one they
liked more.

~~~
saagarjha
But the jailbroken phone comes with iOS and the custom Android home screen
doesn't. I'm not seeing your argument here, unless it's "stock iOS isn't
flashy" or "jailbreaking is cool".

~~~
coolreader18
> But the jailbroken phone comes with iOS and the custom Android home screen
> doesn't.

Right, I'm saying that it's not as much about the actual features or
capabilities of the phones, but just that iPhones are cooler.

------
npunt
These types of surveys are at best directionally accurate, as I doubt their
8000 teens are a representative sample. Are we to believe that 20% of teens
own an Apple Watch, as this survey suggests?

~~~
pxeboot
They admit to focusing on middle class to high income households, so they
might not be far off in those groups. Definitely not representative of the
whole country though.

~~~
npunt
Maybe it's a regional thing, as the South was oddly oversampled at 45% of the
8000. I don't hang around teens but do make a point of looking at what tech
they're using when I see them, and I've never seen one wearing a smartwatch of
any kind. Apple Watch is just getting to the hand-me-down stage so maybe
that's it.

I totally buy that Apple has a very strong brand with teens, I just don't see
smartwatches as being must-haves for teens. I'd guess more teens would want to
put the extra $$ into a newer smartphone (faster & with a better camera)
instead of a secondary device.

~~~
xbmcuser
Apple has sort of a lock in for teens in the US because of its imessages app
from what I understand. This is something unique in North America as rest of
the counties use messaging apps like whatsapp

~~~
npunt
For sure iMessage is huge in the US, and teens are at a time in their lives
when social inclusion is pretty much #1 on the list of priorities. I buy that
argument. It's that Apple Watch is likely only third on the list of purchases
after iOS device + wireless headphones, and has much less social inclusion
value, and at that point you've spent many teenagers budgets.

------
khaki54
I swear my stepdaughter hates me because I gave her my old Nexus 6P. It's a
sweet phone, I don't understand the issue.

I don't want to give in and buy her an iPhone, but she had tears in her eyes
when I told her $800 wasn't the greatest use of funds.

~~~
mandelbrotwurst
Blue chat bubbles > green ones seems to be a big piece of it. You're not
wrong.

~~~
neapolisbeach
As a current student this is a huge part of it.

People with androids (green messages) will not be added to group chats because
it turns everyone else's messages green. When making plans they will usually
get texted individually but it can unintentionally lead to exclusion.

Texting someone with an android is much less convenient than using an iPhone
and anecdotally this is one reason kids choose iPhones over Android.

~~~
yufeng66
As a parent of teenager, it’s exactly that. Android phone messes up the
iMessage group chat. So kids with Android phone tend to get excluded. Apple is
obviously in no hurry to fixed issue. iMessage turn out to be the stickiest
social network for the next generation.

~~~
tmm84
Apple can fix it but there is nothing stopping Android from implementing
something that'll make things not change color.

~~~
mandelbrotwurst
How would they do this? iOS controls the colors on iOS, no?

------
whalesalad
blue bubbles vs green bubbles is a real thing

~~~
Kaveren
I do wonder what the impact of this is. I can't think of any good way you
could study it other than surveying people. Does this have a discernible
market effect under demographic most vulnerable to social pressure?

~~~
threeseed
People just like to make it sound like it's a really big deal amongst young
people. When in fact it's probably just one of dozens of reasons for which
they phone they choose.

Treating young people like they are less savvy or reasoned about the decisions
is always a mistake. Likewise you can't just treat hundreds of millions of
people as thought they are one homogenous hivemind.

~~~
RcouF1uZ4gsC
>Treating young people like they are less savvy or reasoned about the
decisions is always a mistake.

I am not sure it is always a mistake. People have made billions of dollars by
doing. Look at how sneakers are advertised and sold. On a more sinister note,
take a look at the whole Joe Camel cigarette advertising campaign.

~~~
threeseed
Most people who are buying expensive sneakers are not young. And it's nothing
to do with advertising and everything to do with fashion, hobby, exclusivity
etc.

Likewise bringing up cigarette is ridiculous since it ignores the fact that
they are highly addictive.

~~~
hn_throwaway_99
> Likewise bringing up cigarette is ridiculous since it ignores the fact that
> they are highly addictive.

To be addictive you need to _start_ , and the cigarette companies knew that if
you made it out of your teenage years without smoking, there was almost no
chance you would start smoking. All of that marketing worked on teenagers
specifically due to peer pressure and desire to fit in/be cool. And it's
repeating itself with Juul. Virtually no 20+ year old non-smokers wake up one
day and think "I want to start a vaping habit."

------
rb808
Interesting to know if they were new or hand me downs. I'm a grown up with a
job and I don't want to pay double for an iPhone.

------
ancientworldnow
I'm curious how much is the longer product lifespan of iPhones resulting in
parents passing their children hand me down iPhones when they upgrade.
Androids don't seem to age as well (as an android user) so they're harder to
convince a teen to accept one instead of purchasing something entirely new.
Unfortunately the poll data here is very scant.

------
dano
While on vacation with my extended family I found myself somewhat socially
excluded from everyone else as they could share photos via airdrop. I provided
the group a shared Google Photos album and a few pictures were uploaded, but
not as many as they shared directly. I also have trouble receiving SMS
messages with Vcard attachments from iPhone users.

One other point, I ran a major outdoor event this weekend and rented iPads for
square transactions. There was no question in my mind that we would rent iPads
instead of Android tablets. Why? Because all of our ticketing people we're
already familiar with the platform.

Android and iOS platforms are not yet interchangeable from a user experience
perspective, and I think that's what drives the kids to the iPhone. It's what
everyone else has and if I have one, I'm fully interoperable.

~~~
timbit42
> It's what everyone else has

Only in the US.

------
BrandoElFollito
As a parent of two teenagers in a relatively affluent part of France I can
assure you they have zero interest whether this is Apple or Android. The thing
with the bubbles color does not even register.

I would say that the importance of the model is much higher in poorer areas (I
know very well a few parents from "the suburbs" (les banlieues), which in
France mean unpriviledged zones).

The children of parents who are very well off would have an older phone,
sometimes with a broken screen.

------
mshaler
As a parent, I bought my son an iPhone because of privacy/malware concerns
(perceived or otherwise) in the Android world--but we're already an all-Apple
household. I wonder if it's Apple's privacy _marketing_ that won the day here?
(Green bubbles notwithstanding.)

------
8bitsrule
Interesting. How were geographically and socio-economically diverse were these
surveys? Were they verified?

It's hard to assess these results without knowing: 1. how many of those teens
had any choice; 2. how many teens had an informed choice; 3. how many teens
reported having no phone.

~~~
amanzi
With regards to "geographically and socio-economically diverse" \- those
details are on page 2.

------
grwthckrmstr
Fascinating and if you think about it, it's hardly a surprise.

Kids want to be cool in front of their peer groups (I think all of you have
experienced that period in your lives, don't bring up yourself as an
exception, it's not contributing to the discussion).

Kids want to be part of social clans and groups.

It's hard to dispute the above 2 statements, so the conclusion that iPhones
are the preferred choice due to a. Coolness factor b. Everyone else is using
it / walled garden / iMessage

is hardly a surprise.

I would love to see the discussion project onwards to the future -- what
implications does this have for when these 13 somethings become 23 somethings
with a job and have to buy a phone.

Are they going to switch to Android at some point?

Does majority of the growing population get used to iPhone at an early age,
which means we will see an uptick in iPhone adoption in the coming decade?

I find these questions far more fascinating.

------
ajayyy
Definitely not true here in Canada (Ontario). I'd say it's a around 50/50,
maybe majority Android.

~~~
earenndil
In vancouver, iphones are an overwhelming majority. I think I read somewhere
that nationwide it's around 60-40 ios-android?

------
Animats
Wow.

------
matchbok
Sort of makes sense. Android is generally a mess and hasn't really added much
of value over the last 4 years. Whereas iOS has had huge yearly updates with
actual features.

Plus, iMessage is a huge draw. Android has what, 5 messaging apps?

~~~
stevenjohns
I honestly can't understand why Google hasn't been able to replicate the
success of iMessage. It can't be /that/ hard to figure out if the person on
the other side is using an Android with a compatible Messaging app version and
then switch over to an internet-handled chat.

~~~
aphextron
Android has always been a stop-gap for Google. Fuchsia is going to be the
first real competitor to iOS.

~~~
nradov
By the time Fuschia actually ships as a complete OS, perhaps the industry will
have moved on to a new hardware form factor and smartphones will be considered
a legacy product. Sort of like how Android was originally designed as an OS
for compact cameras and then later pivoted to smartphones.

~~~
aphextron
This is exactly why Fuchsia is a capabilities based OS, designed to run on any
device.

[https://misterbugbuster.com/2018/04/19/fuchsia-os-a-
modular-...](https://misterbugbuster.com/2018/04/19/fuchsia-os-a-modular-and-
capability-based-os/)

~~~
nradov
Historically attempts to create a modular, universal OS that runs on any
hardware haven't ended well. Such projects tend to collapse under their own
weight due to scope creep and the resulting software is usually too poorly
optimized for any particular hardware to make a compelling product.

~~~
timbit42
Like Linux?

