Is the iPhone a guy thing? And the iPod
touch, for that matter? According to a new study by comScore based on data from AdMob, more than 70% of users on both Apple devices are male. Shouldn't the iPhone, with its user-friendly features,
zillion apps and fashion accessory status hold at least as much appeal for women as men?
Maybe not. Come to think of it, there was that anti-iPhone screed penned by New York Times "Medium" columnist Virginia Heffernan, detailing her frustrations
with its "aloof" quality and touchscreen keyboard before going back to the all-business BlackBerry. In any case, the new $99 iPhone may help to democratize the device between the sexes and among all
consumer groups.
The comScore-AdMob study was mainly focused on highlighting the demographic split between iPhone and iPod touch users for the benefit of marketers and others.
Nearly
three-quarters of iPhone users, for example, are over 25, while 69% of the Apple media player's owners are 13 to 24. Maybe that's why Steve Jobs has referred to the iPod touch as "training wheels for
the iPhone." Accordingly, iPhone users also tend to have higher incomes, with 78% having an annual household income of at least $25,000, compared to only 66% of iPod touch owners.
Differences
also show up in purchase intent. In the next six months, iPhone users said they plan to by clothing (57 %), entertainment (47 %), and travel (45 %). The proportion of iPod touch users citing clothing
and entertainment was roughly equivalent, but instead of travel, their hearts are set on getting cell phones (36%). If Jobs is right, an iPhone.
The study conducted during the first half of
2009 surveyed visitors to sites within AdMob's iPhone network and encompassed 3,848 iPod touch and 3,454 iPhone users.