One in four iPad purchases are made by first-time Apple owners
The iPad has been highly successful at drawing new customers to Apple, as a new study has found that about 25 percent of buyers in the U.S. have made the iPad their first-ever Apple product.
The data was released on Thursday by the NPD Group, which found in its "Apple Ecosystem Study" that just 33 percent of U.S. homes own Apple products. But that number is growing well past the 37 million American households Apple devices are currently found in, thanks in large part to the iPad.
"iPad sales are growing much faster than any other Apple product has this soon after launch," said Ben Arnold, director of industry analysis at NPD. "In fact, one-in-five Apple owner households has one? nearly equivalent to the number that own an Apple computer. This demonstrates the appeal of both the new form factor and Apple?s app ecosystem."
A majority of the U.S. households that do have Apple products ? 67 percent ? own an iPod, and 82 percent of iPod owners polled said the media player was their first Apple product. But as the popularity of the iPod has declined, Apple's new "halo effect," driving sales of other devices in its ecosystem, is being led by the iPad and iPhone.
"While over 70 percent of long-standing Apple owners began their relationship with the brand by way of the iPod, this number declines to just 57 percent among those entering the Apple franchise in the past two years," the NPD Group said. "Newcomers to the brand increasingly turn to the iPhone or iPad as their first Apple device, which combined account for one-third of first-time Apple purchases since 2010.
The average home with Apple products owns 2.4 devices built by the company, but most "Apple households" aren't strictly tied to the Cupertino, Calif., company's products. Six in ten homes with a Mac also own a Windows PC, and nearly 30 percent of so-called Apple "enthusiasts" own a smartphone other than the iPhone.
The numbers also show the growth potential Apple still has in the U.S., as two-thirds of American homes do not own any products by the company, and nearly a third of those in the ecosystem don't own an iPhone.
The data comes from a survey of more than 3,000 consumers conducted by the NPD Group in February. It was balanced to represent U.S. household demographics.
"Apple?s OS X, iOS, and App Store are platforms specially tailored for their products," Arnold said. "Should more households become multiple Apple product homes, these platforms will become even more important in the acquisition and sharing of content between devices."
The data was released on Thursday by the NPD Group, which found in its "Apple Ecosystem Study" that just 33 percent of U.S. homes own Apple products. But that number is growing well past the 37 million American households Apple devices are currently found in, thanks in large part to the iPad.
"iPad sales are growing much faster than any other Apple product has this soon after launch," said Ben Arnold, director of industry analysis at NPD. "In fact, one-in-five Apple owner households has one? nearly equivalent to the number that own an Apple computer. This demonstrates the appeal of both the new form factor and Apple?s app ecosystem."
A majority of the U.S. households that do have Apple products ? 67 percent ? own an iPod, and 82 percent of iPod owners polled said the media player was their first Apple product. But as the popularity of the iPod has declined, Apple's new "halo effect," driving sales of other devices in its ecosystem, is being led by the iPad and iPhone.
"While over 70 percent of long-standing Apple owners began their relationship with the brand by way of the iPod, this number declines to just 57 percent among those entering the Apple franchise in the past two years," the NPD Group said. "Newcomers to the brand increasingly turn to the iPhone or iPad as their first Apple device, which combined account for one-third of first-time Apple purchases since 2010.
The average home with Apple products owns 2.4 devices built by the company, but most "Apple households" aren't strictly tied to the Cupertino, Calif., company's products. Six in ten homes with a Mac also own a Windows PC, and nearly 30 percent of so-called Apple "enthusiasts" own a smartphone other than the iPhone.
The numbers also show the growth potential Apple still has in the U.S., as two-thirds of American homes do not own any products by the company, and nearly a third of those in the ecosystem don't own an iPhone.
The data comes from a survey of more than 3,000 consumers conducted by the NPD Group in February. It was balanced to represent U.S. household demographics.
"Apple?s OS X, iOS, and App Store are platforms specially tailored for their products," Arnold said. "Should more households become multiple Apple product homes, these platforms will become even more important in the acquisition and sharing of content between devices."
Comments
"One in four iPad purchases are made by first-time Apple owners" <- now this is something.
Didn't Tim Cook say 50% of new Mac sales were by first time Mac owners? Wouldn't that indicate Macs are more successful than iPads and drawing new customers to Apple?
@ Zoolook,
Sorry to correct, but Mac owners are by now only a small part of Apple owners.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2992
"One in four iPad purchases are made by first-time Apple owners" <- now this is something.
Does this mean that these people didn't even have an iPod?
I find this report skeptical. Everyone knows only Apple fanboys buy Apple products. /s
Quote:
Originally Posted by jj.yuan
Does this mean that these people didn't even have an iPod?
Is this that hard to believe? My iPhone 3G was my first ever Apple purchase - prior to that I'd made do with the mp3 player and a big MS Duo card for music on my various Sony Ericsson feature phones (K700 / K800). I could never be bothered with extra cost / hassle involved in carrying multiple devices so had never seen the need for a separate mp3 player. I still can't, it just so happens that with the iPhone (now on a 4, waiting (im)patiently for "new iPhone" later this year) I get an iPod Touch built into the phone instead of whatever crappy mp3 player software sony had cobbled together...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jj.yuan
Does this mean that these people didn't even have an iPod?
You're right. They must only be counting Macs, iPhones, iPads.
In my household of 4, we have 4 Macs, 2 iPads, 2 iPhones all used daily, plus a a number of iPod touches and an older MacBook Air that get frequent use. Plus a bunch of non-touch iPods that just gather dust. Probably puts us in the "Apple enthusiast" category.
I've run into a surprising number of people this past year who have no other Apple products besides their iPad. The girlfriend of a friend of mine recently got an iPad for her birthday (they were both Android users at the time) which led to her buying a new iPhone a couple of weeks ago. Seems like a decent bet that other iPad-only users will follow the same path and buy other Apple products.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveMcM76
Is this that hard to believe? My iPhone 3G was my first ever Apple purchase - prior to that I'd made do with the mp3 player and a big MS Duo card for music on my various Sony Ericsson feature phones (K700 / K800). I could never be bothered with extra cost / hassle involved in carrying multiple devices so had never seen the need for a separate mp3 player. I still can't, it just so happens that with the iPhone (now on a 4, waiting (im)patiently for "new iPhone" later this year) I get an iPod Touch built into the phone instead of whatever crappy mp3 player software sony had cobbled together...
Very interesting! This makes me feel that iPhone's market share can grow a lot and for a very long time as more and more people migrate from dumb phones to smartphones eventually.
I admit that I am cheap. I don't have a smartphone. Music players on dumb phones (I have had Samsung, LG, Moto, Nokia phones so far) can't match the convenience of an iPod by a long shot. So, I still carry 2 devices when I go out for a walk (a dumb phone and iPod nano). Sony's dumb phone may be smarter, but, I doubt I will buy one. Eventually, I will probably bite the bullet and upgrade to an iPhone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by malax
You're right. They must only be counting Macs, iPhones, iPads.
I somehow doubt that. It's certainly not unreasonable to think that someone wouldn't have an iPod.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
I somehow doubt that. It's certainly not unreasonable to think that someone wouldn't have an iPod.
Agreed. If you have an iPhone, why would you need an iPod? Would be redundant imo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freshmaker
Agreed. If you have an iPhone, why would you need an iPod? Would be redundant imo.
No, we're… I'm saying it's not unreasonable to think there are still people who've never had any Apple products.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoolook
Didn't Tim Cook say 50% of new Mac sales were by first time Mac owners? Wouldn't that indicate Macs are more successful than iPads and drawing new customers to Apple?
Yes, in Apple Retail Stores. He wasn't talking about all channels.
Plus many of those first-time Mac sales were likely to people who owned other Apple products (e.g., iPod, iPhone) but not one of their computers. Note that the iPod commands about 70% of the MP3 player market, but that still leaves a sizable number of people who don't have an iPod and maybe don't have an iPod (or any other Apple product).
This study is significant because it indicates new Apple customers.
The funny thing about this stat is that it means a lot of new iPad owners will be using using iTunes on Windows and it is a generally accepted fact that the Windows version of iTunes is just plain awful.
-kpluck
Quote:
Originally Posted by kpluck
The funny thing about this stat is that it means a lot of new iPad owners will be using using iTunes on Windows and it is a generally accepted fact that the Windows version of iTunes is just plain awful.
-kpluck
I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it awful, but it's definitely not up to par with the Mac version.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freshmaker
Agreed. If you have an iPhone, why would you need an iPod? Would be redundant imo.
Not redundant for me. I use an iPod Classic connected to my car stereo. It hooks up to a connection in the console between the front seats. I have it on album shuffle - countless hours of non-repeating lossless music, like a radio station where all it plays is music I like. No need to disconnect it all the time, either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elroth
Not redundant for me. I use an iPod Classic connected to my car stereo. It hooks up to a connection in the console between the front seats. I have it on album shuffle - countless hours of non-repeating lossless music, like a radio station where all it plays is music I like. No need to disconnect it all the time, either.
Ditto. My 160GB iPod Classic stays in the console between the two front seats except during the hot summer months. My entire iTunes library is on it and like you, it's a never-ending source of music I like. All the while, my iPhone sits in front of the shifter, connected to the factory stereo via Bluetooth. Of course, when they come out with a 128GB iPhone, I'll probably retire my iPod
Quote:
Originally Posted by jj.yuan
Very interesting! This makes me feel that iPhone's market share can grow a lot and for a very long time as more and more people migrate from dumb phones to smartphones eventually.
I admit that I am cheap. I don't have a smartphone. Music players on dumb phones (I have had Samsung, LG, Moto, Nokia phones so far) can't match the convenience of an iPod by a long shot. So, I still carry 2 devices when I go out for a walk (a dumb phone and iPod nano). Sony's dumb phone may be smarter, but, I doubt I will buy one. Eventually, I will probably bite the bullet and upgrade to an iPhone.
I too do not have a smart phone yet but I believe the time is coming...
Verizon has a very small selection of basic phones and a huge selection of smart phones...
Have you seen what the basic phones are these days..they're all crap phones...
Quote:
Originally Posted by tenzo
Have you seen what the basic phones are these days..they're all crap phones...
Plus, they stop the subsidy for 2 year renewal. So, there is only one way to go when my current 2-year contract is up ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
No, we're… I'm saying it's not unreasonable to think there are still people who've never had any Apple products.
It's hard to believe some people have never owned an iPod, but I'm an avid Apple fan and always owned Macs starting with the 128K Mac. I've never owned an iPod, or used any other brand of portable music player. I like to walk in the park or in the country and listen to nature. When I'm on my Mac, I listen to iTunes and am satisfied.
In addition AT&T is weak in my area and needed to upgrade my old phone to something else, and bought an Android HTC Incredible because Verizon hadn't been allowed to sell the iPhone at the time. Now I'm able to upgrade to an iPhone but am waiting for the new one at the end of this year. In the mean time I'll add an iPad to my office devices and thus placate my Apple addiction.
It's highly reasonable to think that there are many people like me that had I not owned Macs, and onwed PCs, I would have never owned an apple product.