Why smart retailers lust over Mac, iPhone, and iPad users

“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.]

Related articles:
On Orbitz, Mac users first shown pricier hotels than Windows sufferers – June 26, 2012
Wealthy smartphone users more likely to have iPhones; less likely to play games, tweet – April 2, 2012
U.S. Apple product users split evenly between Republicans and Democrats; Half of U.S. households own at least one Apple product – March 28, 2012
Mac users are more fashionable than Windows PC sufferers – March 1, 2012
Study: iPad users more likely to buy – and buy more – online than traditional PC users – September 29, 2011
iPhone users smarter, richer, less conservative than Android phone users – August 16, 2011
Apple iPhone users spend significantly more on their credit cards than non-iPhone users – November 5, 2010
Study: Apple iPhone users richer, younger, more productive than other so-called ‘smartphone’ users – June 12, 2009
Nielsen: Mac users are better educated and make more money than PC users – July 12, 2002

14 Comments

    1. Right! Quality since 1978 for me, except during the revolving-door CEO days in the 1990s when I bought a clone.

      I still remember some quote from those early days when Mike Markkula asked one of his VC friends to listen to Jobs’ pitch, and the friend supposed asked Mike something on the order of “Why did you send me these two scruffy rejects from the human race?” (Steve and Steve weren’t exactly models of tonsorial standards of the day.)

    2. Not sure I follow your logic? Not sure why you call out folks who choose to purchase something other than Apple cheap Bastards? Come on Man!

      I wear a 10k Tag watch by choice hence someone who wears a Timex might not be cheap but maybe they too are making a choice.

      1. To be fair, he did qualify that statement with the phrase “by and large”. So there are exceptions to that qualification. 😉

        And to Robert: I wear a watch also (Rolex), but mostly for sentimental reasons – it belonged to my father, who passed in 2006.

  1. iTunes Store Alone (1 account)
    471 Movies
    1512 episodes of TV of 84 Series
    5449 songs
    46 Books
    202 iOS apps

    Mac App Store
    50 Paid Apps

    Old Fashioned DVD Software:
    Aperture
    Adobe Photoshop
    Bento
    Devonthink Pro Office
    Microsoft Office 2011
    Final Cut Studio
    Logic Pro 9
    Dragon Dictate
    VMWare Fusion
    PDF Pen Pro
    Data Rescue 3
    Drive Genius 3
    Tech Tool Pro
    VirusBarrier X6/Protector Suite
    Grammatica
    UltralIngua Dictionary with German & Spanish modules
    Fluenz German 1-5
    Fluenz Spanish 1-5
    ElGato Eye TV

    Amazon Kindle App for Mac and iOS
    133 Books

    Zinio app for Mac and iOS
    hundreds of issues of over a dozen publications over 5+ years.

    Mac Pro with LED Cinema Display
    AL MacBook (not pro) 13″
    Mac mini
    Apple TV 160GB
    iPad 3
    iPhone 4 (purchased unlocked)

    M-Audio Keystation 61es
    Focal XS Monitors
    Bowers & Wilkins Headphones
    UPEK/Authentec Fingerprint scanner
    Eye TV 500 & HD
    Moshi Cardette Ultra
    Canon LIDE 700 Scanner
    Canon MP560 Printer/Scanner
    Wacom Graphire Tablet w Mouse & Stylus

    Not everything, but gives an idea.

  2. ive read about the latest findings, orbitz et al in the last few days. they’re talking about me. they’re talking about thousands, hundreds of thousands—millions of people like me, like you who spend to get the best. we’re not alone, not by a long shot. we just want something real, something better.
    I don’t care if you’re black or white, rich or poor, left or right… we just know that there’s something BETTER. we’re willing to pay a LITTLE more for a LOT more. it doesn’t stop with our choice of Apple over the rest, it’s with everything. we’re tired of crap and we see it a mile away. Apple users are not elite or nessearily moneyed. we’re just tired of shit. tired of being swindled. we put our money where its best spent—we demand quality over quantity.

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