Once again, Apple had everyone all a-flutter last week with the announcement of its third generation "the new iPad," Given all the additional focus on tablets lately, it’s a good time to hone in on what is know about Millennial tablet owners.
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21 Fast Facts about Millennial Tablet Owners
- Slightly more than half of all tablet owners are Millennials.
- One in three new tablet owners are Millennial women.
- Thirty-five percent of adult Millennials own a tablet.
- Nearly half of all male Gen Yers own a tablet—that’s higher than any other gender/generation break.
- Millennials are more likely to have a tablet than to own and regularly use personal digital media players without wifi (think older-generation iPods), netbooks, HD radios, satellite radios or e-readers. They are just as likely to have a tablet as they are to have a handheld gaming device or Blu-Ray player.
- Male Millennials are about as likely to have a tablet as they are to have a DVR in their home.
- More than half of Millennial-owned tablets are iPads; one in ten are Kindle Fires.
- Male Millennials are more likely than any other gender/generation break to have a 64 GB iPad. Female Millennials are the least likely.
- In a broad sense, the tablet has more utility to the Millennial owner. They think of it as much more than an entertainment, information and communication device. It’s also an organizer, media storage unit, work device, social networking tool, style statement and recorder/documenter.
- Still, slightly more than half of Gen Y tablet owners classify their tablet as a toy, not a tool.
- Generation Y tablet owners are more likely than older generations to seek local news on their tablets.
- Millennial tablet owners aren’t the most likely to regularly use their tablets for social networking. (It’s actually Gen X tablet owners).
- Male Millennial tablet owners are more likely than any other gender/generation break to use GPS-based apps on their tablet to track friends and family (e.g., think find out where they are and then go meet up with them).
- Two in five Millennial tablet owners regularly get sport scores on their tablet.
- The three types of videos Millennials watch most on their tablets are, 1, user-generated videos (i.e. ,YouTube), 2, professional clips (i.e. movie trailers, TV clips) and, 3, full-length TV shows.
- One in five Millennial tablet owners regularly watches adult/erotic videos on their tablets.
- One-third of Millennial tablet owners regularly use their tablet at work.
- Half of Millennial tablet owners regularly use their tablet in their living room/family room/den during primetime on weeknights.
- Two in five Millennials tablet owners regularly take their tablet to bed during the week.
- On the weekends, Gen Y tablet owners are more likely to use their tablets in their bedroom than any other place.
- Gen Y tablet owners multi-task. Forty percent regularly cook or bake while using their tablet, 38% watch TV, 27% get ready/get dressed, 32% do housework, 22% go shopping at a store and 41% talk on a cell phone.
COMMENTARY: Interesting information about Millennials and their tablets, especially that they use their tablets in bed.
In a blog post dated January 8, 2012, I had reported Apples iPad sales numbers for the calendar years 2010 and 2011 (Nine months):
- Calendar Yr Ending 12/31/10: 14.79 million
- Nine Months Ending 9/30/11: 24.67 million
Apple sold 15.43 million iPads for Q1 2012 (Quarter ending December 31, 2011), so total iPads sold for the calendar year ending December 31, 2011 is 40.10 million or nearly 90% of total global tablets.
In a blog post dated February 11, 2012, I reported that Apple sold 40.1 million iPads and nearly 50% of iPad owners are classified as affluent. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 20% of Americans are classified as affluent or making $100,000 in income or more. This would place number of Americans making $100,000 at about 58.5 million. Roughly 20 million (50% of 40.1 million ipads) Apple iPad owners are classified as affluent. Therefore, roughly one-third of the U.S. affluent demographic now own iPads. That's a pretty hefty adoption rate for an Apple product that has only been available in the marketplace about two years. How many more affluent Americans are likely to buy an iPad? It begs the question whether the number of affluent Apple iPad owners is quickly reaching a peak.
I don't normally equate Millennials with affluency, because nearly 40% of them are underemployed (hold temp jobs or part-time work) and making less than $30,000 per year. They are mostly consumers and save little. The Millennial generation is also carrying the most debt of any generation. Most of this from student loans whcih average nearly $50,000. Shit!!
So where the hell are Millennials able to obtain the money to purchase expensive tablets like the iPad and related accessories? The answer may lie in that Millennials are known for taking on more than one part-time job or making sacrificies when it comes to owning one of Apple's magical devices (iPod, iPhone or iPad). I did discover that up to one-third of Millennials are buying used automobiles, so I have a feeling that they are buying the majority of the used iPads that are out there (40 million older original iPads and iPad 2's).
Another observation that I have made is that Millennials will simply not pay for WIFI or internet service, but prefer to use it for free. They are a generatino of freeriders. Starbucks realized that by offering free WIFI service they attracted a higher proportion of Millennials. Today you will find Millennials in abundance at Starbucks, but a lot of them also use their Apple Macbooks. This begs the question: Where the hell do they get the doe to buy an Apple Macbook?
If anybody knows the mystery as to where the Millennials are getting their money to buy Apple iPads and MacBooks please post it here.
Courtesy of an article dated March 23, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications Engage:GenY
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