87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone to be their next phone

Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by kylehotchkiss on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:09PM (#33183263)

I just got a backup iPhone SE for $430. It's fantastic. Same chip as recent iPhones. Very decent camera. Better battery life than my 13 pro. Actually fits in pocket. More fun to play games with one-handed. Easily will last 5 years with a case. Not a luxury device, but pretty competitive with what a lot of young people in even middle-income countries would pay for phones.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by eternityforest on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:28PM (#33183590)

$430 is getting close to luxury phone. And the features on remotely affordable iPhones are often below or maybe on par with what you used to be able to get from LG for $220 before they sadly stopped.

The chip only matters for gaming really, cheap Android phones have been fast enough for years, and if the price difference is similar to a Switch or something then I'd rather have a dedicated gaming machine if I was really into gaming.

I suppose it also matters for niche stuff like music production, but Android does very well at being a generic multipurpose device for non-enthusiast tasks, and at being cheap enough that you can afford a dedicated device.

The short support period is an issue though.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by ProfessorLayton on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @06:47PM (#33184741)

Is it anywhere near a luxury if 88% of teens can afford it? The iphone starts at $430 and tops out much higher than that, so the ASP is considerably higher.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by sofixa on Thursday October 13, 2022 @03:50AM (#33188382)

I don't think it's the teens buying it for themselves.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by kaba0 on Thursday October 13, 2022 @08:58AM (#33190354)

Feel free to interpret it as 87% of teenagers’ parents can afford to buy (often multiple) iphones for their children. The actual market share of apple in the US is also at around 50%, so I wouldn’t call it luxurious.

Though let’s add that a smartphone is probably the single most used item a person will own (used more often than your shoe), so it does make sense that people will give out quite a sum for these.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by bongobingo1 on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:13PM (#33183336)

$430 is a lot of money though... and probably a lot for a "kids" phone too? You can get previous generation androids that aren't total POS for ~$150, like a Moto G 8-9.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by lynndotpy on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:17PM (#33183411)

My first smartphone, as a highschooler, was $40 (circle 2014). My first "luxury" phone was a $150 Android.

A $430 price tag IS a lot.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by nharada on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:28PM (#33183591)

In the US?? It was VERY rare to find a phone that cheap in 2014. I had a Nexus 5 in 2014 and it went for $350 ($437 in 2022 dollars). And that was considered a really good deal/budget phone.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by com2kid on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:40PM (#33183838)

Pixel 6a was on sale a couple weeks ago for $350.

I haven't ever paid more than $500 for a phone, and even that much upset me!

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by ido on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:43PM (#33183881)

Nexus was a mid/high-end model (google branded), budget android phones are usually from chinese manufacturers like ZTE.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by lynndotpy on Thursday October 13, 2022 @08:47AM (#33190264)

In the US!

I got an 'LG Optimus' phone in 2015 for $125 (after tip and tax, down from the $150 I had in my memory.) I don't have the 2013 receipt for the $40 phone though, that might have been through a WalMart contract.

A new 'Moto G Power' can be had for $150 right now (down from $250) and a new Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro can be had for $220. You can find sub-$50 phones too, especially in the used market.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by mos_basik on Friday October 14, 2022 @01:52PM (#33206702)

>tip

What? I want to know more about the circumstances that led to you paying a tip while buying a cellphone. What country was this? What state/province? What store?

(I see that your comment mentions the US and Wal-Mart, but I think both of those are about the $40 purchase and I'm curious about the $125 purchase.)

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by lynndotpy on Saturday October 15, 2022 @10:15PM (#33220504)

Haha woops, force of habit! I just meant "tax", not "tip and tax".

I did not realize I was in the habit of saying "tip and tax" to refer to extra fees.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by foobarian on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:21PM (#33183477)

And to top it off the $430 was for a backup phone.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by michaelmrose on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:22PM (#33183500)

Moto G line has models that are $169 new. You can get older used models for $60 and a line of service for $20 a month. I think people vastly overestimate how much money average people actually spend.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by sho_hn on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:16PM (#33183396)

There's a fair number of posts in the thread now pointing out that iPhones are not-that-expensive, and all of them drive up my own engagement with the plight of the people who can't afford one. If you're, say, in a 5% bracket of society who can't afford one, it's all the more awful and potentially debilitating to have a marker on you that flags you as part of the 5%, no?

And at $430 it's still a lot more than 5% in the USA.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by nomel on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @06:54PM (#33184828)

If you think a green bubble is the only thing that will mark you for that 5%, that people will judge, you've never been, or known anyone, that was poor.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by sho_hn on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @07:48PM (#33185326)

I neither think so nor said I do - it just happens to be the one we're discussing here, distinctly from the many others.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by hsbauauvhabzb on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:11PM (#33183309)

$430 is a lot to some people.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by reiichiroh on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:37PM (#33183782)

What about monthly data plans and their recurring costs?

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @06:05PM (#33184213)

That's another uniquely American atrocity.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by garyfirestorm on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:19PM (#33183442)

Average yearly income in India 1875$ iPhoneSE for kids - 430$ I think it’s unobtainable for most of the people

https://www.statista.com/statistics/802122/india-net-nationa...

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by Huh1337 on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:54PM (#33184048)

They mostly use Android in India. This is about the US.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by kylehotchkiss on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @06:18PM (#33184382)

iPhone SE in India isn't $430, it's $607 at today's exchange rate: https://www.apple.com/in/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-se/4.7-inch-... (still, EMI somewhat easily available)

20k-30k for Android phones seems to be the norm there according to the advertisements everywhere.

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by tannhaeuser on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @05:53PM (#33184035)

You can buy SE 2020's for significantly less, it's just that Apple themselves don't sell those in retail (but are still producing those and sell in gross).

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Re:87% of American teens own an iPhone; 88% expect an iPhone... by iamthirsty on Wednesday October 12, 2022 @06:27PM (#33184514)

With the SE (and regular 13 & 14) having not-that-great 60 Hrz displays, I could never switch from my 13 Pro to anything else but a 14 Pro (that's why my second phone is a Pixel 6 Pro [or sometimes a OnePlus 10 Pro], as 120 Hrz & 1440p are requirements for a phone to be in my pocket).

I used to have a SE (2nd Gen), prior to ever experiencing a better display, and now I can never go back,

However, if the came out with an SE that did have 120&1440p, I would definitely buy.

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