Apple Execs Have to Be Happy About this Data Point

In new data released Tuesday, the iPhone is in the hands of nearly one out of every two users in this vitally important demographic.

Recently, we reported that the latest ComScore SCOR data found that Apple AAPL was gaining market share in the smartphone market. Out of the 133.7 million smartphone users, Apple’s market share had risen 3.9 percent to 38.9 percent. This is vitally important for Apple since about 60 percent of its revenue comes from the iPhone.

New data finds that the iPhone reigns supreme in another key market. According to marketresearch.com, there are approximately 25.6 million people in the 12-17 age group. $110 billion or about $4,200 per person is spent on this age group. Companies spend a lot of money to get their products in front of the eyes of teenagers.

A recent report from Piper Jaffray found that Apple is winning the cell phone battle in this key age group. The survey found that 48 percent of teens own an iPhone. This is up 8 percent from the previous Fall 2012 survey.

Further, 62 percent plan to make an iPhone their next mobile device purchase. This compares with 23 percent who plan to purchase an Android phone.

Apple dominates the tablet market as well. The iPad has a 68 percent market share but that’s down from 72 percent. 51 percent of teems reported owning a tablet with another 17 percent having plans to purchase a tablet within the next six months.

68 percent plan to purchase an iPad or iPad Mini.

Which cell phone carrier holds the bulk of the teen market share? Verizon VZ has 34 percent of the market with AT&T T at 29 percent. Illustrating the great divide between the top two carriers and number three and four on the list, number three, Sprint S has a 14 percent share and T-Mobile has only 12 percent.

This single data point doesn’t put to rest the need for Apple to produce some major “wow” with its iPhone 6 release. The iPhone 5S will almost certainly be an incremental upgrade that isn’t expected to do much to answer the critics that say Apple is no longer leading the cellphone market.

Could this be why the rumor mill believes that Apple will offer the 5S and the reported cheaper iPhone in up to 8 different colors?

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Tim Parker was long Apple.