Generation Z’s love of Apple products creates new challenges for Android

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The benefits of the Apple ecosystem are one of the main reasons users remain loyal to its ecosystem for years. But according to market analysis, Gen Z is driving Apple’s rapid growth for reasons beyond cross-device feature benefits. According to a study by ad-tech firm Attain, reported by the Financial Times, Gen Z account for a staggering 34% of all iPhone users in the US. For comparison, Samsung’s Android phones achieve a meager 10 percent penetration of the demographic of users born after 1996.

The results are not surprising. In its 2022 report, analyst firm Piper Sandler found that 87% of Gen Z users own an iPhone, while 88% of survey respondents said they would get an iPhone as their next smartphone. The Apple Watch has even surpassed Rolex as the most coveted Gen Z wristwatch. Another analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence last year found that 83% of Gen Z users own an iPhone, while just 10% rocked a Samsung phone.

One of the main reasons users want to stick with an iPhone is the seamless syncing it offers with other Apple products. It also explains why the number of complementary Apple gadgets purchased by Apple loyalists — 35 AirPods, 26 iPads, 17 Apple Watches for each batch of 100 iPhones — is far higher than that of Android-affiliated brands like Samsung. But the apparent disdain for all things Android runs deeper than the hardware.

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One of the key factors turning Gen Z away from Android is iMessage, or more specifically, blue bubble privilege. Apple’s messaging service has an unprecedented stranglehold on its home market, and the company has made the iMessage privilege really stand out while belittling Android. The best example would be the hated green bubble scenario that occurs when an Android smartphone user gets caught in an iPhone-only messaging chain. But it’s not just the color mismatch that makes Android phones less than desirable. Interactive features like message reactions also falter when an Android user joins the conversation, defaulting to the legacy SMS format instead of the more feature-rich iMessage system.

Google has been pushing for a solution using Rich Communication Services (RCS), but Apple has yet to budge and likely never will. Such is the aversion to the green bubble that Android users have been ostracized by messaging groups, with some even describing it as a red flag while looking for a suitable date. Pundits speaking to the Financial Times point out that the combined effects of a hands-on ecosystem and the iMessage lockdown will only fuel Apple’s growth in the years to come, especially in the Gen Z segment. Android suffers from fragmentation, and the same goes for sister operating systems like WearOS and ChromeOS, as each partner brand targets different price points with their respective devices and offers an incoherent experience.