The stakes couldn’t be higher for Samsung and Apple in the billion dollar smartphone and tablet wars. Both companies have put a premium on positioning themselves as cool and youthful. Samsung has assiduously battled first-mover Apple to win the coolness factor.
In early 2013, Forbes highlighted Samsung’s impressive gains in mindshare with teens (that’s teens, not tweens, with a “w”).
But the battle is not even close to won yet, for either side.
That same Forbes article quoted Matt Britton of the youth marketing agency Mr. Youth as saying “Samsung and the Android platform is indeed a formidable competitor. But the interwoven ecosystem and flawless nature of Apple’s products will make its growth prospects pretty much a sure thing for the foreseeable future.”
FashionPlaytes’ own survey of tween girls shows that Samsung has yet to convince the next generation of girls, who overwhelmingly say the iPhone is cooler than the Samsung Galaxy. We went directly to the girls within the FPgirl community and polled 972 girls in the U.S. between December 6 and 18, 2013 ranging in age from 6 to 13 years old. 74% of the girls chose the iPhone and only 26% chose the Samsung Galaxy when asked “Which one is cooler?”
This could be problematic for Samsung, especially considering its investment in positioning the Galaxy mobile brand as youthful, making light of hipster iPhone aficionados and featuring NBA superstar LeBron James.
The poll also provided data on cell phone usage among tween girls. About 2 in 5 (39%) of the girls said they have their own cell phone. Of those who don’t have their own cell phone, fully 86% say they sometimes use a parent’s, sibling’s or friend’s cell phone. So overall, 92% have access to a cell phone.
About half (53%) of those with access indicate their device is a smartphone. 42% say their phone is not a smartphone. Only 5% say “What’s a smartphone?”
We asked the 92% of the girls who have access to a phone, “What’s the #1 way you chat with friends?” Texting was the most popular choice at 43%, followed by calling at 20%. The next most popular options were FaceTime (11%), Kik (5%), Skype (5%) and Snapchat (3%).
