Teens Willing to Buy iPhone: Not as Big a Deal as I Thought

I reported on Monday about a survey of high school students who said they’d be willing to spend $500 on the iPhone.

Well, thanks to Andrew Kantor, I realize the survey results are not as big a deal as I thought.

Monday’s survey showed 25% of high school students were willing to pay iPhone’s premium price. What I left out was that that figure has dropped dramatically since last year, when 74 percent of students said they would buy a cell phone/iPod combo.

Teen iPhone Surveys

Based on that data, Apple has actually lost a sizable chunk of the teen market because of the iPhone’s hefty price tag.

It seems Kantor is right: “Teens are pretty savvy when it comes to shelling out $500 for anything, I suspect.”

Besides, it’s likely that most cell phone purchases for high school students are more in the hands of parents than of students.

8 thoughts on “Teens Willing to Buy iPhone: Not as Big a Deal as I Thought”

  1. There was this guy see.
    He wasn’t very bright and he reached his adult life without ever having learned “the facts”.
    Somehow, it gets to be his wedding day.
    While he is walking down the isle, his father tugs his sleeve and says,

    “Son, when you get to the hotel room…Call me”

    Hours later he gets to the hotel room with his beautiful blushing bride and he calls his father,

    “Dad, we are the hotel, what do I do?”

    “O.K. Son, listen up, take off your clothes and get in the bed, then she should take off her clothes and get in the bed, if not help her. Then either way, ah, call me”

    A few moments later…

    “Dad we took off our clothes and we are in the bed, what do I do?”

    O.K. Son, listen up. Move real close to her and she should move real close to you, and then… Ah, call me.”

    A few moments later…

    “DAD! WE TOOK OFF OUR CLOTHES, GOT IN THE BED AND MOVED REAL CLOSE, WHAT DO I DO???”

    “O.K. Son, Listen up, this is the most important part. Stick the long part of your body into the place where she goes to the bathroom.”

    A few moments later…

    “Dad, I’ve got my foot in the toilet, what do I do?”

    Reply
  2. Oh, Chris, the better we get at reading these things, the more spin people put on them! 🙂

    You’ve got a good point about the target market. The question is, I think, will the iPhone be as much of a status symbol as the iPod? The iPod came along when there was nothing but junk on the market, and has held its top position since then. But the iPhone is entering a mature market with great products, so it’s a different kind of hill to climb.

    Me, I think it’ll be the next generation iPhone that’s more interesting. When it has built-in broadband and a better phone, then it could become a great device as opposed to just another good one.

    Reply
  3. What it actually says is that in the Spring of ’06, no one would pay over $300 for an iPod/cellphone combo, that by the Fall of ’06, 9% were willing to shell out at least $300, and that by the Spring of 07, 25% off those surveyed would actually buy an iPhone for $500.

    Whether or not _would_ means anything is a separate argument.

    74% of the kids surveyed in the Fall of ’06 said they would consider buying a cell phone that is an iPod. That’s like saying you would consider buying a portable phone that is a clock radio. Not particularly surprising news.

    Most surveys are worded in such a way that a devious journalist can make the results seem to say anything.

    Apple has a knack for developing products that successfully target a group willing to pay the price of entry. I don’t think that is going to change.

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  4. I’d be much more interested in seeing the plans for business people in terms of the iPhone. With a high price tag like that, corporate users would seem to be the most likely purchasers.

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  5. Yeah, but to me the iPhone seems more geared to the entertainment crowd (music, movies, photos) than to business types (can’t integrate with corporate e-mail, no remote network management like Blackberry, etc).

    Hopefully Apple has researched their market enough to know whether to adjust the prices in June. Who knows? Apple TV debuted at a lower price than was originally announced.

    Thanks for coming by and commenting! 🙂

    Reply

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