Piper Sandler just shared its 43rd semi-annual Generation Z survey with 7,100 US teens. It shows that Apple Pay dominates teens’ favorite payment apps, while iPhone and AirPods are an important part of their daily lives.

Last April,  88% of teens used to own an iPhone and 90% expected an iPhone to be their next phone. Both of these numbers were new all-time highs. The report also showed that 70% of US teens owned AirPods.

A year later, 87% of teens own an iPhone and 87% expect an iPhone to be their next phone. AirPods ownership, on the other hand, raised to 72%.

What’s interesting in this survey is that for payments apps, Apple Pay ranked first, “partly due to 87% of teens in the survey saying they have an iPhone.” Venmo ranked No. 2, followed by Cash App and PayPal.

Our Spring survey showed an acceleration in overall teen spending, up 9% Y/Y. Of note, females continue to lead the growth in not only fashion spending (clothing +15%, Footwear +16%), but also continue to lead in the shift to digital with 95% of upper-income females shopping online vs 91% of males.

Regarding social media platforms, for the first time, TikTok is the favorite one for teens with 33% share. It surpassed Snapchat with 31% and Instagram with 22% of share.

Another interesting tidbit from this report is that 48% of teens are either unsure or not interested in the Metaverse, with 26% of them owning a VR device.

The 43rd semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens survey was conducted between February 16 and March 22, regional responses were 45% in the South, 22% in the West, 21% in the Midwest and 12% in the Northeast. It’s important to note that 39% of teens hold a part-time job – up from 38% last fall and 33% in spring 2021.

What do you think about these findings? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.