The amount teens spend annually on clothing and accessories dropped to $932 in spring 2010 from $1,083 in fall 2009, according to Piper Jaffray’s bi-annual “Taking Stock of Teens” study. Specialty stores (29%) are the top place teens purchase such merchandise; those who shop online jumped to 10% from 6% in 2007.
Some 8% of a teen’s budget is spent on videogames, and the study finds a growing interest in non-traditional gaming platforms. More than half of teens (53%) will pay for downloadable console content, 38% will play for mobile games, and 25% play games through social network sites. Notably, fewer teens in spring 2010 listen to music via their cell phone than those in fall 2009 (34% vs. 40%).
It appears MP3 players have reached a level of saturation. Some 86% of teens currently own one, down from 92% in spring 2009. Although the vast majority of teens (92%) own some variation of an iPod, those who expect their next player to be a Sandisk jumped to 9% in spring 2010, compared to zero percent in 2009.
The number of teens who download music online has leveled off at 82% in spring 2010, the same percentage as last year. Most teens (57%) use free P2P music sharing networks rather than purchase tracks from an online music store. Teens who would consider paying $.99 per track to listen music dropped significantly to 11% in spring 2010 from 20% in fall 2009. They also are less likely to pay $15 a month for an online music subscription in spring 2010 (34%) than a year prior (46%).
Apple’s iPhone continues to grow in popularity among teens. Some 14% of students currently own one, with an additional 31% expecting to purchase one within six months.
Source: “Taking Stock of Teens,” Piper Jaffray, Jeffrey Klinefelter, Senior Research Analyst, 800 Nicollett Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55402; 612-303-5537; jeffrey.p.klinefelter@pjc.com; www.piperjaffray.com.
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