Financial Times: Apple Triumphs Generation Z in the US and Changes Social Circles – iPhone

For Gen Z users according to financial times — meaning those born after 1996 — make up 34% of all iPhone owners in the US, compared to 10% for Samsung, according to new data from Attain, an adtech data platform.

The ratio also shows how the iPhone increased its overall market share in actual phone use from 35% in 2019 to 50% last year, according to Counterpoint, allowing Apple to grow its bottom line even when the broader market remains stagnant.

The tech giant’s influence on younger consumers is a shift, with market research showing that for older generations of Americans, there’s a relative divide between Android and iOS device owners.

Credit Suisse analyst Shannon Cross said the effects of these changing preferences extend beyond smartphones, as iPhone users are more likely to buy MacBooks, Apple Watch and AirPods.

“The strength of Apple’s ecosystem creates a closed situation that is somewhat impervious to competition,” Cross said. It makes it really difficult to change course. “Apple will continue to gain traction over time,” he adds.

With Generation Z the most connected to the internet of any age group, spending up to six hours a day on their smartphones, the iPhone’s dominance shapes the social circles of young Americans, according to researchers who advise companies on general Z consumer preference.

A frequently reported issue is that Android smartphones cannot send messages through Apple’s iMessage system, which means that a single Android user participating in a group conversation for iPhone owners turns all users’ outgoing messages green instead of the colour blue. Doing so is an indication that the conversation has defaulted to the SMS standard and not iMessage. It also means that when iPhone users in a group send videos or photos, they’re often smaller and more blurry than they might appear via iMessage.

“One green message — coming from an Android owner — changes the whole conversation because now it has to be done via SMS,” said Annelise Hillman, CEO of Frontman, a men’s grooming company. “The social pressure to have an iPhone is absolutely insane.”