Apple Inc. (AAPL) Still ‘Cool’ With Teens: Gene Munster

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Apple Inc. (AAPL) Still 'Cool' With Teens: Gene Munster

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) not only has more loyal users than competitors, it also still has cool products. Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster states that according to his most recent semi-annual Teen survey demonstrates that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains the most popular tech brand amongst teens. As of Spring 2013, the iPhone represented nearly half of all phones used by teens and the iPad remained at close to 70% share of tablet ownership. Gene Munster believes that despite the push from competitive products, particularly from Samsung, it appears Apple has solidly remained the platform of choice for teens.

iPhone and iPad popularity among Teens

IPhone Continues Share Gain Amongst Teens, Path To 60%+. Based on the most recent survey of 5,200 teens, 48% of teens currently own an iPhone, up from 40% in Fall 2012. This demonstrates that Apple remains the top choice for teens despite more competition from Samsung.

Additionally, the survey demonstrated that 62% of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, which shows that the iPhone has loyalty amongst teens. In terms of Android, 23% of teens expect their next phone to be an Android device, up from 22% in Fall 2013. Samsung Galaxy S3 and eventually the S4 are taking share from other Android devices, but little from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in terms of the teen demographic.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPad Remains Strong With iPad Mini Emerging. In terms of tablets, 51% of teens say they own tablet computers compared to 44% in Fall 2012. Of those teens without tablets, 17% say they expect to get a tablet in the next 6 months, down from 20% in Fall 2012.

Overall, iPad remained the most popular tablet by a wide margin. Of teens that owned a tablet, 68% owned an iPad (63% full sized, 5% Mini) compared to 72% in the Fall 2012 survey. For those teens that expect to purchase a tablet in the next 6 months, 68% said they plan on buying an iPad, thus it appears that Apple should be able to maintain its tablet share.

The iPad Mini is beginning to show its impact as the 68% of those who plan to purchase break down into 54% for full sized iPads and 14% for iPad Minis. We would expect the iPad Mini to continue to cannibalize the full sized iPad in our continuation of the survey as we expect the breakdown in sales to reach 50/50 in the March quarter.

Gene Munster reiterates his Overweight rating and $767 price target for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

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