iPod leads among teens

Apple's iPod continues to lead in both marketshare and mindshare, according to a new analyst report released today. Analyst Piper Jaffray said that results of a new survey of 11 U.S. high schools showed that the digital audio market is growing among the 14-18 year-old demographic and that the iPod remains significantly ahead of the competition. Despite a gaining market penetration over the last 2-3 quarters, the Spring 2005 survey showed that a significantly higher portion of teens expect to buy a music device over the next year, when compared to a similar survey last Fall. While iPod ownership increased among those surveyed, the percentage of students looking to buy an iPod decreased by five points to 70 percent; however, overall iPod demand increased as more teens were expecting to purchase new players, according to the report.

Almost 40 percent more of the teens who owned a device said they owned an iPod, according to the research firm. Last fall, 40 percent of those who a device said they had an iPod, while in the Spring that number increased to 56 percent. Despite a small decline, Apple still maintained a significant lead in future purchases. Over 70 percent of the Spring survey respondents who were going to buy a device in the next 12 months said that they were interested in purchasing an iPod. This was a small decrease from the 75 percent figure reported in the Fall 2005. As noted previously, because a larger number of teens indicated that they intended to purchase a player in the next 12 months,



Sony No. 2 in survey




However, with more teens responding that they would like a music device, the survey showed that the demand for the iPod is increasing. Sony was the next closest competitor in the future purchases category with 15 percent noting that they were going to purchase a Sony music product (versus 70 percent expecting to buy an Apple iPod); 14 percent of respondents who already owned a digital player, owned a Sony.



iRiver picked up in the expected ownership category with nearly 7 percent. The survey also found that fourth-place Rio had a declining portion of the current ownership demographic (5% vs. 12% in Fall 2004); however, 3 percent of teens purchasing a device said that they would purchase a Rio player, the same number reported last Fall. Dell remained steady in both current ownership (2%) and expected ownership (3%).



Piper Jaffray's report also very similar pricing trends as in the Fall of last year. The report also found that the pricing sweet spot for digital audio players remains $100-$199, which includes 3 variations of iPod: 28 percent would pay less than $100, 39 percent would pay $100-$199, 27 percent would pay $200-$300, and only 6 percent would pay more than $300 for a portable digital audio player.



"Another interesting datapoint from a pricing perspective is that teens are willing to pay for capacity. Specifically, 65% indicated that they would rather pay $250 for a device that holds 1,000 songs, while 35 percent would rather pay $150 for a device with a 250-song capacity," according to the report.



iTunes Music Store still way ahead




Much like Apple's industry lead with the iPod, the iTunes Music Store is also significantly ahead of its competition. Apple's online music service has higher penetration into the high school demographic than all other services, with nearly 60 percent usage, according to the report. The next closest music service was Napster (9%), followed by MusicMatch (4%) and Real (3%).



The digital audio portion of the survey included a total sample size of 518 students: the average age was nearly 17 years old, the average household income was $72,000, and the gender breakdown was 38% male and 62% female.

by MacNN Staff