Today’s teenagers are blessed with more technology than ever before, boasting the latest smartphones, tablets and countless other Mission: Impossible type gadgets. The younger generation is the go-to benchmark for the latest trends and fads. They decide what’s hot and what’s not.
A recent survey conducted by an Investment bank based in New York looked to find out about teenage consumption habits and technological preferences. The Piper Jaffray study surveyed 7,200 teens conducted both in-person and online, across 41 American states.
According to the survey, Apple’s iPhone was extremely popular with two-thirds saying they own one. Whereas only 7% of the teens surveyed own a smartwatch and just 16% said they would be willing to pay a hefty $350 for the upcoming Apple Watch. These truncated figures reflect the technology’s slow adoption process which may prove to be distressing news for the Cupertino-based tech giant. Trendsetters are already expressing little interest in the company’s otherwise hotly-anticipated form of wearable technology. The price tag could be a limiting factor towards teenage sales but who knows… it’s not like they’re the ones footing the bill!
At last year’s D: All Things Digital conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook liberally admitted the challenges of persuading a young kid who has never worn a watch to embrace a smartwatch.
But it’s not all bad news for Apple; the survey also stated that 54% of teens own an iPad, compared to 16% with an Android tablet and 6% with a Kindle Fire. Beats by Dre, a part of the Beats Electronics Company that Apple recently acquired, are also growing in popularity among young people.
The bottom line is how kids take to the new device; if it becomes the next must-have trendy piece of hardware then it’ll surely do well. An analyst at Piper Jaffray projects that Apple will sell 10 million units next year when the Apple Watch goes on sale in the first quarter of 2015.