“Does Android skew towards a younger demographic? The numbers might surprise you. According to comScore, 52.4% of all Android users are aged 35 years or older. That is five percentage points higher than the iPhone. Near 55% Android tablets users are also older than 35.” How is this surprising? Younger people tend to be more brand-conscious, and there’s no denying that the iPhone is still perceived as cooler than Android phones. Also note that the cited figures are for the US, Apple’s strong home market. I think the figures will look very different for Europe.
I doubt that the result would be the same if we would consider the whole planet.
In many countries a iPhone costs more than what the average citizen earns per month, even with subsidised contracts.
Since average global income is about $7000($600 per month) iPhone is most definitely out of reach of most.
However, if you go for median income…. it blow past 3x what an median person earns per month and nears what a median person earns per year.
Yes, for example in Portugal the minimum wage is around €400 before taxes.
The cheapest iPhone contract is around €389, so quite out of reach for most families.
interesting. in the states most people pay about $200 for the new device and then about $60/month in cell service. usually the older device is available for $100.
full time minimum wage in the states is about $1100/month before taxes, so you are correct, a cheap iPhone is accessible even to the lower wage earners in the states.
however, most android phones are free or under $100 with contract, and then you can get service plans for android cheaper than most iphone plans ($40-50/month). so android continues to be popular with people who are very price sensitive, or looking for a freebie. lot of people in the good old usa only use whatever is given to them free.
Edited 2012-10-11 18:47 UTC
US market is not what you could call a market with “free market” forces. The subsidy and plan pricing model skews the real price too much(there are no or little plans that reward you for buying your device). While most other countries have much more freedom in their telco markets.
In additiona to what JAlexoid says, keep in mind that majority of the 5+ billion mobile subscribers are on prepaid, and own their phones upfront.
(and that the US is a very atypical place overall)
Umm, sorry to spoil folk’s unsupported and hypothetical claim that this would look different internationally (it very well might but not for the reasons mentioned), but this has absolutely nothing to do with whether Android is outselling iPhone or not. It’s a demographic survey — not market share data! In other words, the age breakdowns for each platform adds up to 100%, the wealth breakdowns for each platform adds up to 100%, the sex breakdowns for each platform adds up to 100%… Are we getting this yet?
So even if you conducted the survey in a country where Android had 90% marketshare and iOS had 1% share, the age demographics could easily look exactly the same.
The idea is that an Apple product will be more popular in its home country, among young people who have been exposed to Apple Apple Apple their entire lives. The brand may not have embedded itself in culture as much in emerging markets, or even developed but non-English speaking markets, which Apple traditionally ignored until very recently. Thus, young people in these countries will be more likely to consider other products, because they haven’t been quite so indoctrinated.
I don’t know if the data supports this idea or not, but I understand where the summary was headed.
There is no evidence to support this idea.
Well, there IS enough evidence that Android is doing way better in Europe than in the US. Take The Netherlands for example – Samsung alone has 20% of the smartphone market, while Apple only has 10%. The Netherlands rarely walks out of step with truly important countries like Germany or France on this one, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s similar there.
It’s also in line with traditional desktop and laptop figures. Apple has always been around 10% in the US, but always below 5% in Europe and the rest of the world.
Which is market share data, not demographic data for each individual platform.
You could have a country with 10 billion Android users and 5 iPhone users and the demographic data could still skew younger for the iPhone.
The % of young users of the iPhone doesn’t decrease the more Android users there are; it would decrease if there are more older iPhone users.
Of course it’s different – but that doesn’t mean the two don’t affect each other. You can be pretty sure that if there are way more Android users than iPhone users, that young people will have less of a predisposition towards the iPhone as well.
Your hypothetical is not impossible – just far less likely.
There is absolutely zero certainty of that, actually…. or rather, it would have zero impact on the demographics on those who do use iPhones (if they are predisposed to not choose iPhone, and don’t, they don’t measure in the iPhone demographics) so it has no import to the topic.
For your argument to follow and bear on the issue of demographic makeup, you would have to argue that in countries where people prefer Android to iPhone, those who still choose to prefer the iPhone will be necessarily older on average than in America.
I see no logic or support to that claim whatsoever.
Edited 2012-10-10 22:33 UTC
Younger people buy more smartphones than older people. Pretty straightforward.
Edited 2012-10-10 22:31 UTC
Moreso for Apple’s platform than for Android in the US. But you haven’t explained why that demographic makeup would be different outside of the U.S. at all. (Maybe it is, but you haven’t put forth a rational or supported argument for it yet.)
If younger people buy most of the smartphones, and there are more Android smartphones in a country than iPhones, than it is not at all illogical to assume that Android is more popular there among younger people than it is in the US.
Pretty basic logic. Like I said – it doesn’t have to be so, but it makes sense.
This is contradicted by the US data. More people in the US purchase Android devices than iPhones, yet Apple still has younger demographic data.
When your assumption is directly contradicted by the only data actually presented, yes, I would say that is illogical.
That may be true but it could also be true that at the same time the proportion of young people buying Apple is higher than the proportion of older people. The Comscore data gels with this research
http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/10/09/iphone-adoption-among-tee…
which indicates a high iPhone adoption rate amongst US teens and a high intention to buy Apple kit in the future amongst said teens.
The data in the Comscore report only applies to the US and I have not seen any evidence about the age demographics of smart phone brands in other countries so it is reasonable to assume that the other markets have similar demographics until proved otherwise. As the Comscore data is the only data on the table the onus is on those who argue that the age demographics outside the US are different to come up with some evidence to support that proposition.
Personally I am not that surprised that iPhone may be somewhat more popular than Android with young people, it probably has the highest brand recognition of any phone and brands mean a lot to young people, and Android phones as whole come across as being a bit old fashioned, again something that is important to young people.
But in the end this is all probably pretty trivial.
jared_wilkes is making a good point here, and it just goes to show how troublesome statistics can be.
The article points out that “47.2% of iPhone users are aged 35 years or older”, while “52.4% of all Android users are aged 35 years or older”.
However, in the the quarter before (I couldn’t find data for Q3), Apple sold 26.0M units, whereas Samsung 50.4M, according to the following article:
http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2012/08/smartphone-mar…
Assuming the demonograhpics are the same across Android manufacturers for simplicity, this means Samsung sold in the region of 50.4 * 47.6% = 24M devices to the under 35s, whereas Apple sold 26.0 * 52.8% = 13.7M.
In other words, Samsung is outselling Apple in the younger demographic by a wide margin. The conclusion is that the iPhone isn’t more popular than Android with young people.
I appreciate the comment I quoted was tagged at the end of a post that contained a lot of other relevant points besides. I’m afraid the exact phasing of your sentence just served to highlight the issue.
I do think jared_wilkes’s point is worth emphasising though. The numbers are given in a very specific way, and are easy to misinterpret (probably I did too).
Also, “older” people tend to be more cost effective in their purchases (you know, bang for buck).
Ever heard of China? It is practically a Nokia monopoly (around 75% marketshare).
China smart phones, last report 9 months ago they were almost 70% android. I wouldn’t be surprised if that number’s gone up.
Okay this report says 80% android (august):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/14/android-smartphone…
Edited 2012-10-11 15:47 UTC
And people keep posting market share data as if it has anything to do with demographic data for one platform or the other.
It won’t hold out in India. We buy mobiles. Percentage of youngsters able to afford $900 mobiles is way less. Even when they can afford we tend to see the specs!. You would see iPhone more with business guys since it acts like a status symbol.
Yes, okay, you buy Android — this does not affect the demographic background of iPhone buyers. I’m baffled by the lack of comprehension on this matter.
Thom acts sarcastic about this being surprising but then everyone here is falling over the incorrect stereotype that only old people use iPhones. Even if there are fewer iPhones, it doesn’t mean there are less young people choosing them amongst the audience of iPhone users.
Same thing in my country. Most youngsters can’t afford an iProduct, so it’s mostly management-style people who have them. Most of my co-workers have Android phones, whereas most in management and sales (i.e. people who care about their image) use iPhones. It’s just an insignificant observation, but I’ve noticed that often ownership of an iPhone can be easily correlated with the value of the owner’s wristwatch.
I always say that people who buy Apple products have “more money than sense”. :-p
Then again, it can be asserted that those of us with more sense make more money.
iPhone is more desirable by younger people with a bigger fashion orientation with a strong brand appeal.
After some age, wise thinking and careful reasoning becomes more important.
One of the most important things about android with younger people is price.
Justin Bieber is also popular among younger people.
“Justin Bieber is also popular among younger people.”
One simple sentence explains it.
I like Tom Waits, most teens hate him.
Edited 2012-10-10 23:11 UTC
Can you really say that conclusively? When I was a teen I liked Tom Waits.
I’d venture most have no such strong feelings…
I know there is some hate for Apple here but don’t hate it’s customers. It just so happens that without young people alot of overpriced cr** wouldn’t be on the market. That includes high end graphics cards, PC-like game consoles, and anything with HD in the product description. In other words most high end geek stuff wouldn’t be viable.
I myself just wish more diverse brands were available to the general public like they are with things like cars and clothing.
It’s kind of the opposite for me. I don’t hate Apple more than I do any other multinational tech corporation. Heck, I probably hate Samsung more than Apple in some cases, despite currently owning a Galaxy Nexus.
It’s the customers I dislike, or rather the “fanboys” to be more accurate. Even when I owned an iPhone (3GS) and complained on a forum or comments section about certain features, I’d get lynched. The same can be said about Android customers.
Seems the new trend this millennium is for people to waver their rights as a paying customer and instead suck on the dicks of multinational corporations they’re giving money to. You pay money to the people you’re whoring yourself to? Where’s the sense in that?!
/tangent
My general point is: demographic gathering, analysis, forecasting, and targeting are very difficult and mysterious. Some products, brands, or companies get pegged into a certain demographic without even trying; they can’t alter their demographics with millions of dollars and hours spent on branding, marketing, packaging, targeting, etc. Other products, brands, and/or companies can re-jigger their demos, hone in on the most desirable segments like gifted surgeons and flourish. Some products, brands, or companies simply flame out with a demographic they once owned. Some demographics won’t change with increased/decreased sales (or still stay favorable/unfavorable relative to competition); some will… for better or worse. Likewise for price or other factors.
It is very easy to make assumptions about demographics. It is easy to claim these assumptions are logical. And it’s just as easy that you’ll be wrong.
One could argue that the more mainstream/majority/average a product is, the more its demographics regress towards the mean. The demographics come to reflect the most average consumer rather than the most desirable consumer. (In some cases, its actually the older segment that is still more desirable to target.) But this could also be wrong. (Although probably the most “logical” assumption put forth thus far.)
One could argue that wealthier people buy more smartphones (just as younger people may buy more smartphones), and wealthier people have a preference for the iPhone (also reported in the data being discussed). So even in poorer markets where Apple has significantly less market share, their demos could skew even younger and wealthier. (And this assumption could also be wrong.)
I simply think it’s completely illogical to say that a company that has historically done very well at targeting the most desirable demographic segment (age/wealth/education/etc leading to greatest profits) in the market place would have significantly different demographics by region because of differences in market share — or more importantly, because of the market share of a different platform entirely — particularly when Apple has generally performed similarly, demographically-speaking and relative to its competition, across various products, across countries, across decades without regard for market share (whether that be 2%, 5%, 8%, 15%, 20%, 35%, 70%, or 95% of the market).
I’m sure there are some regional demographic differences affected by any number of factors, but most of the assumptions that have been made (particularly those in relation to market share) are completely unfounded in data or logic.
wealthier people have a preference for the iPhone – How would this affect in USA? Does it matter how wealthy you are when you can get a subsidized mobile?
What i get is that young people desire iPhone looking at subsidized markets where price evens out. But prefer Android where they have to pay for it like India
This is exactly my point. The wealthiest consumers buy the iPhone, but the U.S. market presents greater access to a broader demographic (phones are subsidized, the majority will have to tolerate a relatively expensive contract or bills of comparable size to a contract, larger middle class and higher standard of living) so the iPhone achieves greater penetration with 30+% market share and we see a declining share % through the other more-developed, high-access markets down to the power, less-developed countries.
So a reasonable presumption is that Apple retains the bulk of the high end of the market regardless of whether it has a higher or lower market share.
Again, I’m presenting other equally seemingly “logical” “assumptions” that may or not be correct and we do not have the data for.
Edited 2012-10-11 06:27 UTC
I’m guessing that many of the older people do not want to buy a lifestyle device but rather a basic communication device so they don’t want to spend a lot of money on it.
And most of the lower end phones are androids, so it would make sense that they end up being android users.
In India, one of the largest telecom markets clocking one of the fastest growth rates, 87% users of smartphones (young & old) proudly own an Android phone. Apple is virtually a non entity (despite its perceived snob value). People should stop flashing headlines about the US market. The bulk of the global market share is here in India and China.
Mobile market share, yes. Smartphone market share, no.
A smaller percentage in india could still eclipse entire US consumers!. Wait for year or 2.
I live in Shenzhen where I work which is at the border of Hong Kong and China.
Last weekend I went to HK to buy a new phone, every store and vendor had long lines at the Samsung displays and sold out very quickly, the Apple stores were empty of customers along with the displays of Apple products in other stores. Going to the local malls in China, I see exactly the same thing, the age of the buyers is of no consequence here.
But you have said nothing about the age breakdown of the vast majority choosing Android or the small minority that is choosing the iPhone. That is my point. Greater market share doesn’t necessarily or logically shift the demographic makeup of a product’s purchasers.
Again, it’s more logical to presume that 1) either the age breakdown remains similar, or 2) with increased market share the demographic breakdown regresses to the mean.
But we don’t have the data to support any of these assumptions.
My sisters are aged 58 and 65. Both have Windows PCs (for serious work), iPads (for couch surfing) and Samsung Android phones (strictly for making calls). Go figure.
Although I have the feeling that Apple is more popular with young people anecdotal evidence would suggest otherwise.
I was sitting on a bus at 4PM yesterday and I noticed an extraordinary amount of high-end Android devices in these school kids hands and almost no iPhones. Also interestingly it seemed that the Galaxy S2 was by far the most common phone.
I think the SII hits the sweet spot between bleeding edge and price. It’s not the most modern phone out there, but it’s still plenty fast. It’s also very light, quite sturdy, and, in my view, is about a million times prettier than what came after it. For me, 4.3″ also happens to be the perfect screen size.
Other than the Lumia’s, I’ve yet to see a phone that bests it for me.
The iPhone is only popular where massive carrier subsidies are available eg USA and Australia. Where the subsidies don’t exist iPhones have very limited marketshare.
Here in Australia the phone carriers have declared war on handset subsidies. This means that the overall cost of iPhones is considerably more expensive than similar Android phones.
So many words lost for, well, nothing. But do let me add some more:
I advise caution with any statistics published in a sense “is Coca cola really better than Papsi”. First, as said, the survey was done in USA and as much as some doubt it the rest of the world is less obsessed with Apple products compared to Americans. Second, surveys such as this are usually financed with some clear intention in mind. Usually by this or that brand owner. Thirdly, iPhone is fading as a “must have” product and is fading even faster as a cutting edge technology brand (which it never really was anyway). Put 1 and 1 together and you get useless, paid for data.
And lastly, statistically you can always prove the Earth is turning in the opposite direction on at least one of the seven days of the week. So much for the surveys and numbers published by this or that company.
I think the take from this should be that any survey done in the US on iPhones is useless anywhere else.
The iPhone and many android devices differ in either software features or specs in different markets. For instance, the new maps app is even more useless overseas than it is here in the US. Some of the Samsung phones have quad core chips in some markets, but only dual core chips here. To put it another way, coke vs pepsi doesn’t hold up because the formulas are different in europe than the us just like the phones are different in europe vs the us.
So basically, this research indicates that people who take their decisions regarding their purchase of a new phone with more reasonable and calculated considerations, and probably are less influenced by peer pressure and impulse behavior, these people often go for an Android phone. Well, duh!
That’s not that shocking. Especially, when no margin of error is given. What would people expect, exactly?
Without any more information, its not clear what the survey says at all.
Tell me a joke Siri.
…by the end of each thread you will have heard every reason why this is the reason android is better than xxx.
Each of the reasons will contradict each other, as well the previous thread that came to the same multiple conclusions.
My observation of Android phones the last few years? Everyone loves the new one they just got, and then gets another new one every 6 months that “works better” since the last one didn’t. They reenter everything, reload it, rinse, and repeat.
I see lots of buyer remorse on android, and when someone figures out the tech and what they expect it to do in their life they migrate towards iOS. People with iPhones use them for everything practically all day for 2+ years then upgrade when their contract allows.
But that’s just here in the states. We ‘get’ Apple because we are Apple, they represenet the best US company going right now. We have apple stores everywhere and ‘subsidies’ as you call them (we call them contracts and they aren’t well liked).
Obviously, you’re cherry picky antidotes. My experiences and observations would be different. So aside from what our personal experiences tell us, I think there is one general thing we could pull from both: There are pathological gadget enthusiasts that are easy prey for marketers.
how is it “pathological” to have the same rig for years?
iphone users run those things ragged for years. here’s what my friends and family with iphones run:
2 with a 3S
4 with a 4
5 with a 4S
0 with a 5 (as of this morning)
you don’t upgrade in the states until your contract lets you. almost no one buys a phone ‘unlocked’ (unsubsidized) over here, not brand new.
the thing that continually gets ignored on this site is build quality and overall comfort/reliability. apple customers keep their gear for years, not months, and never just a few days like other products. this is because they are happy with it and too busy to play around with 5 knockoffs.
every other reason stated regarding cult behavior or “fanboy” ing, whatever the hell that means, is frustrated babble. some of us have trusted apple rigs for years, even when they were just another dying computer company.
just re-read your comment, i see you are saying that there are pathological buyers out there.
i totally agree with that. some of the newfound apple success are those types , who have had 7 phones and finally wanted to try (or could afford) an iphone. but once you have an iphone you usually don’t keep jumping, you realize it’s just a slab communicator and most of the fun is in the apps or the browser.
what i’m wondering is – if android really has 70% market share in the netherlands, does this mean that 70% of the population are follower fanboys, or 70% of the population are reasoned buyers, or 70% of the population were given a free android, or 70% of the population are actually androids?
Yes. That is what I was saying.
There is no data to come to this conclusion other than your own experiences. My experiences differ widely.