You iPhone. Me iPod touch.
What — besides a two-year, $2,000-plus commitment to AT&T (T) — makes a person who carries an iPhone different from one who's got an iPod touch?
From January to May, comScore tapped into AdMob's U.S. advertising network to conduct a survey of owners of both Apple (AAPL) mobile devices and drew some interesting conclusions, which it released Tuesday morning.
First, the comScore/AdMob survey, like last week's Forrester report, identified several ways both groups differ from the general population. For example,
- 70% are men
- Half use the mobile Web more than they read newspapers or magazines
- More than 40% use their mobile devices more often than their computers to visit the Internet
- More than 40% spend more time on the mobile Web than they do listening to the radio
But when the researchers drilled into their data, they discovered that iPhone and iPod touch owners occupy very different demographics. For example …
- iPhone owners are older. 69% of iPod touch users are between ages 13-24, while 74% of iPhone users are older than 25
- iPod touch owners are less wealthy. 78% of iPhone users have a household income of $25,000 or more, compared with 66% of iPod touch users
- iPhone owners have more kids. 46% of iPhone users have children while only 28% of iPod touch users do
- iPod touch owners are more likely … to be in the market for cellphones, clothes, TVs and other electronics
- iPhone owners are more likely … to spend money on travel, financial services and a new home
Most of these findings flow directly from the first: iPhone owners are older and therefor have more money, more kids, more need of financial services, etc. (The one thing most don't need is another cellphone.)
And you might think that this age difference flows directly from all those free iPod touches Apple handed out last summer — and will hand out again this summer — to college students buying MacBooks.
But Jason Spero, AdMob's North American managing director, thinks it has more to do with 1) the cost of that two-year commitment to AT&T, and 2) the big advertising campaign Apple ran last December pushing the touch — and the explosion of games that run on it — as the "funnest iPod ever," a campaign clearly pitched to younger users.
Spero says the effect of Apple's marketing push leaped out of their December data: an explosive, almost vertical spike in AdMob's iPod touch Web requests between Dec. 24 and Dec. 25. "The iPod touch became THE gift for Christmas," he says.
ComScore describes itself as a leader in measuring the digital world, and AdMob is the world's largest purveyor of mobile Web ads. ComScore used invitation banners to solicit respondents from AdMob's network and ended up interviewing 3,454 iPhone users and 3,848 iPod touch owners.
See also:
Below the fold: snapshots of the two demographics as reflected in a few of the comScore/AdMob graphics.
great comparisons done for iphone and ipod touch, it will be thrilling to note growing share of iphones in coming years. With demand of Iphones going up, I am sure people looking for iphone external batteries will also go up.
I fit the iPhone demographic, except I have an iPod Touch.
Why?
Because where I live, there's no AT&T service. A few people here signed up w/ AT&T in the closest town that has it or they already had AT&T when the moved here. AT&T dropped them all because almost all their usage was out of network. (Limit is 750 mins/month.)
For a cell phone I have a Samsung Delve from AllTel. And while I continue to be happy w/ AllTel's service, I dislike the Delve more every day.
So I carry an iPod Touch for connecting to the internet anywhere there's WiFi. Where's there's no WiFi, I use the Delve. And since the camera on the Delve leaves something to be desired, I also carry a small Nikon digital camera. Good thing I have a big purse!
Why buy an iphone 3gs when next year there will be an iphone 3gss?
Why buy an itouch 32gb when next year there will an itouch 64gb?
Apple is smart, but some of us are smarter not to touch their products. Until the iphone can do absolutely everything that people wish a smartphone had (complete with a stable battery), then i MAY consider buying one.
Until then, my Instinct will do just fine. If i need a radio, I have my phone or my desktop computer. If I need videos, I have my desktop/laptop.
"I’m 37 in June and I dont’ see the point"
Posted By Fraxur, Campbell, CA : June 16, 2009 5:46 pm
Congrats…you're old
I'll buy an iPhone the minute I can get a data-only plan. I'm not interested in a "smart" phone, from any manufacturer or service provider. I want a phone that makes calls, and maybe has alarm and timer functions. And nothing else. Every other function that my phone has that might cause me to drain its battery and not have it available when I want to make or receive a phonecall is a bug to me, not a feature.
I love everything that the iPod Touch and iPhone have and do, but have no interest in the rest of the functions being integrated with my phone. Right now, if i run my Touch's battery into the ground, I can't surf the web or watch a TV show–luxury activities. But if that meant my phone was also out of juice, I couldn't make a call, and that is sometimes a necessary activity.
But I sure wish I could get ubiquitous internet access with my iPod Touch. Just not badly enough to pay what it costs to get the available service plans through AT&T, since half of that plan's cost (the voice half) is something I don't want and wouldn't use. Especially since I'd at the very least need a second line (for a proper "dumb" phone)–and based on friends' comments, probably be happier to just keep my Verizon account & phone.
@Allison – they added tethering to the new OS coming out this week and think it works on both 3G and 3GS, but check Apple site or local store to be sure.
I'm 40 and have the iPod touch 1G, and really like it a lot. Being able to view videos and play games during long flights is a major win, the apps are great, and having the internet, maps, and email in my pocket while in hotels with wifi eliminates my need to carry my laptop every time.
However, I am going to finally buy an iPhone, the 3G[S] has most everything I've been waiting for (video, better camera, faster, etc.). Plus, I am tired of the lack of constant data access when ever I want it (on the train to/from work). Not happy about AT&T and the data cost, but figure it's only for 2 years and hopefully Apple will sign on other carriers in the next 2 years. Plus at my job we get various business discounts, one being an AT&T service discount which will save me money.
I have an ipod touch and will never get the iphone unless there are other options for service providers. I have several friends who have it and the complaints are all the same: bad coverage, bad customer service and too expensive.
I have an Ipodtouch and don't fit the demographic. The only reason for me not owning an Iphone is it's carrier. There is no way I'm going to be forced into using AT&T. It's ridiculous that if you want the phone you have to sacrifice service and quality.
Sure, the iphone family plan is over $3k over 2 years but my crappy cell phone plan before was $2,400 anyway over 2 years so an extra $350 a year or about a dollar a day – a quantum leap over a plain old cellphone.
I'm 37 in June and I dont' see the point in getting an overly inflated iphone over the ipod touch. The phone is bigger, much more expensive to drop and comes with recurring costs that don't justify the phone service. If clicking on fancy buttons to talk into a box is worth that extra cash, all the power to you but I prefer a cheapy phone that I don't have to worry about dropping.
I own an iTouch and yet I fall into all of the demographic categories for an iPhone user. While the iPhone is slick, its novelty was fleeting to me as I already own a mobile device/phone — manufactured by HTC running Windows Mobile — that suits my needs much better than an iPhone ever could, e.g., more customizable, capable of tethering.
It is a shame that AT&T's "flagship" mobile device runs on such slow network, too. My HTC runs on Sprint's network and I run circles around my friends' iPhones. By the time AT&T has better 3G coverage, Sprint and Verizon will be officially rolling out their new 4G networks, which are already being tested in select metropolitan areas.
As much as I am not an Apple fan, I've waited to buy an iPhone the last few years – waited for the software enhancements and now the hardware enhancements. It's still stupid that there's no SD slot, but I'm get the 32gb 3Gs so that'll have to do. I work at Cisco and though they are piloting vpn / email / webex conferencing features for the iPhone, it's still not considered a completely secure device. They're working w/ Apple so that's coming though. But my Dad's Bold is probably better for corp e-mail at this point. I'll have to see.
It definitely is an expensive proposition – if I wasn't getting some kind of service discount I dunno if I'd waste money on it. But it's about the only gadget I don't own 
Anyway, in terms of iPhone vs iPod Touch – unless a similar hardware upgrade is being done to the iPod, the new 3Gs will be faster (600mhz Arm Cortex 8, new powerVR SGX 520 gpu).
In the end, Apple got a few things right – hardware, lots of apps, and a good UI. $299? Yeah it's steep. But it'll hold me over until Intel's nextgen cellphone chipsets come out.
Didn't get an iPhone because there wasn't a tethering option.
Need the cell to be able to tether to the laptop. Lack of this feature was a deal breaker.
I should also add I'm a quadriplegic, with zero manual dexterity. The only way I can use my iPod Touch, type, etc is with my pinky knuckle. It's still the absolute greatest gizmo I've ever owned even if I can't work half the apps designed for it. Love it and couldn't live without it.
There is only one reason I own an ipod touch instead of an iphone and that is I don't like AT&T and I refuse to give them any of my money. They have horrible customer service and charge much too much for the contract.
If Apple makes a deal with other cell carriers then I will consider an iphone.
Snobs and retards, jack? You mean like someone who would post a comment like yours? How does your foot taste?
I love the argument people make about the iphone not being a great phone. It's hilarious. Most people who make such an argument have not used the iphone for any extended period of time (>1 hour). While the "phone" part of the iphone may not the world's best cellphone, it doesn't need to be. No one goes out and buys an iphone in the mindset that they want to buy the best "phone". They go out and buy the iphone because it is SO much more than just a "phone". Phones are evolving, they are no longer just a means to call someone else. They are information factories, devices designed to get you information you desire anytime, anywhere.
Use the iphone for a couple days and tell me you wouldn't want one for yourself. I'm just tired of listening to people argue about how the iphone sucks because of this, and sucks because of that when YOU HAVE NOT USED IT FOR EVEN AN ENTIRE DAY. How do you trash some thing without trying it?
touch screens would suck for ppl with short stubby fingers. i'd rather wait till they aren't so new so the price goes down and all the bugs are worked out!
Most of this reasoning seems very flawed as all the stuff on purchasing intent really seems based on the persons age and not because they own an iphone over a touch.
I get apps for my itouch on http://itouchapps.com I dont need a iphone at all.
I'm a 37-yr-old freelancer and I love my Touch (purchased in January), even more than I loved every other iPod I've owned before it — not just to play games and media, but also to read news and novels, e-mail, store files, etc. I hate the hype of the despotic iPhone but my Touch is my all-time favorite toy and companion. Why would I want to sacrifice all that fun-time for the sake of saving battery-time on my professional cell-phone ?
One other not-so-minor detail: There are ZERO prospective Touch-killers out there. This is a market that Apple presently has all to itself. And because of that and the fact that many of the same applications run on both platforms, programmers know that there's serious money to be made writing programs for the Apple App Store.
People who were around at the time (like me) remember that one of the reasons the PC originally gained the upper hand over the Mac was its huge advantage in terms of software being written for it.
Looks like the tables have been finally and thoroughly turned!
Hmmmm. Perhaps I have a foot in both camps. I bought a touch over an iphone, if only to see if I would use all the apps out there – I didn't want to get an iphone and find I didn't use most of it. What I did find is I love my touch, but there's far fewer hotspots out there for wifi than I would have imagined. I'm probably going to get a 3gs iphone mostly to have constant data access more than to make phone calls. (a touch with 3G and data only plan would make me a happy camper
Being on the Verizon network I have the Blackberry Storm which I love over the IPhone. It fits my needs better as a phone and data device. I also have the IPOD Touch as I am not going to get another cellphone with AT&T just to get it.
Best of both worlds! Now if only my Storm from Verizon had WiFi it would be perfect!
Right now, everyone I know that has an iPhone raves about all of the features that is has… except the ability to function as a phone. A few even carry and use their old cells in addition to their iPhones. Right now, the AppStore appears to be best feature of the iPhone, so why not save a lot of $ and stick with the reliable iPod Touch?
I am an AT&T customer with a 5 year old phone. I started with a Touch figuring I could get enough wireless to make the data plan of AT&T unnecessary. However, as I started trying to use programs with location services when outside my house, in the car, or places that didn't have wireless, I started chafing at the lack of connectivity.
So, when the 3GS was announced, I made the plunge. As I said, I was already a customer with a long since expired 2 year commitment. Basically, excluding the price of the IPhone, the cellphone is costing me another 30$ per month.
I find that acceptable for the always on connection and a unit with a storage capacity equal to the IPod Touch.
*nod* Makes sense. I bought a Touch instead of an Iphone mainly because the $80+ a month contract comes out to be about 2k in 2 years.
Instead I pay $9.00 a month for IPass, and have a copy of TruPhone and Skype on the Touch. With that I can go to any hotel, starbucks, or McDonalds and make a telephone call with it.
Plus it's *much* lighter than the IPhone. All in all a better deal. Now if they would just enable the bluetooth for a wireless headset…
I'm 35 and make $40k so I'm a bit of a tweener here. I hate spending money on anything so I have a Tracfone to avoid exorbitant rate plans. But I splurged and own an iPod Touch because it really is the funnest iPod ever. The ad campaign worked on me – and I'm glad.
I agree with Nat from WI. I wish just like there are external PC Wireless cards from Verizon to hook to the internet that there were external data service chips we could insert into our itouches. I would totally pay a monthly rate to be able to use the internet service on my touch 24/7. It sux to only be able to use the browser when there is wifi around. Before I got the Itouch, I thought wifi was every where but now that I have one, it is def. not in enough places. I mean what is good about the GPS feature if you get lost where there is no WIFI? In addition, I used to have ATT and kept paying a ton of fees and where I live and work, Verizon rules the domain. So either Verizon needs to come up with better touch tone phones similar to the iphone or Apple needs to come up with some kind of data service via external chip (which I am pretty sure they have the capability to do). I want the IPhone but not ATT!!!!