Young people and the iPhone: how Apple influences the social prestige of the new generations

For the youngest, the iPhone is the only phone – no matter the year or the features – they intend to carry in their pocket. Several studies analyze this phenomenon which has a global reach.

The dominance of Apple lines over the younger generation is very significant, especially in the United States. The curious thing is that this preference is not repeated between the adults, where there is great parity between iOS and Android systems.

This question would explain the reason for the increase in Apple’s smartphone market share in the United States, which was 35% in 2019 and in 2020 up to 50%, according to data from Counterpoint. This increase allowed the tech company to boost its profits at a time when the overall market was stagnating.

A study conducted by investment firm Piper Sandler indicates that the 87% of teenagers of the United States owns an iPhone. The curious thing is the attachment it generates, since 88% also expect the next mobile phone to be an iPhone.

From the market study, these figures are difficult to explain, taking into account that teenagers do not have great purchasing power and the iPhone is the most expensive cell phone. In fact, its price has doubled in the last decade.

Piper Sandler has been conducting this poll for a decade and recalls that in 2012, only 40% of teenagers had an iPhone. So the figure has doubled in a decade, despite rising prices.

Generation Z is the most interconnected, a direct consequence of growing up as digital natives for whom the mobile phone is an essential communication tool. This means that the dominion that Apple exercises over them directly conditions their social circles.

According to data from the Attain company, Generation Z – which includes those born between 1997 and 2012 – represents 34% of the total of iPhone owners in the US and just 10% of Samsung device owners.

Android discrimination

This has caused some of the younger customers who don’t communicate via Apple’s iMessage in group chats to fear being socially judged for not having an iPhone device.

If only one person in an iMessage group chat has an Android, the messages will turn from blue to green, turning the conversation into an SMS exchange instead of iMessage.

In an attempt to resolve Apple’s refusal to extend the use of the iMessage service to models from other manufacturers, Google and its Android system launched a marketing campaign a few months ago criticizing the technology’s decision not to integrate Rich Communication Services (RCS ). a higher standard than SMS and the digital exclusion that this entails.

The preference for Apple mobile devices in this age group continues to grow in the United States, being much more pronounced in the country than in other geographic areas.

However, according to a study by Canalys, 83% of Apple users under the age of 25 in Western Europe want to continue using an iPhone, with the percentage for Android devices falling to less than half.