“A variety of researchers have taken a crack at defining the characteristics and behavior of the Apple demographic,” Dana Mattioli reports for The Wall Street Journal. “The average household income for adult owners of Mac computers is $98,560, compared with $74,452 for a PC owner, according to technology market data firm Forrester. A survey of 24,000 people over the age of 18 in the U.S. from October to December found Mac owners tend to be younger, too, according to consumer data provider BIGinsight.com. Over 41% of Mac owners were 34 years [of age] or younger, compared with 32% for wireless laptop users and 23% for desktop owners, the study found. Owners of other Apple devices had similar traits, with higher incomes than users of BlackBerrys or smartphones running on Google’s Android software, according to BIGinsight.”

“There’s evidence this higher income level translates into higher spending. Nearly half of retailers in a recent study by Forrester Research and Shop.org said users of tablets – who by a large majority are iPad owners – tend to place bigger online orders on average than users of laptops or desktops. Shoppers on Apple devices like iPhones also outspend shoppers using Android or Blackberry devices, according to IBM, which tracks data from retailers,” Mattioli reports. “And while there are twice as many mobile gamers on Android devices in the U.S. as there are on iPhone and iPads, the amount spent by Apple gamers is five times higher than Android gamers, according to international gaming market research firm Newzoo.”

Mattioli reports, “In light of this, retailers have scrambled to roll out mobile apps geared toward iPhone and iPad users, often before rolling out their Android versions. And some are retooling their regular websites to make them work better with Apple devices, removing Flash video, which Apple’s mobile devices don’t support, and spacing out links for easier targeting with fingers.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Fred Mertz" for the heads up.]

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