Kids want an iPad more than they want a Wii U, Xbox, or anything else

Data compiled by Nielsen showing what products people in the US say they are going to buy in the next 6 months.

[Embeepee]

Interestingly, more people in the US say they're going to buy a PS3 than an X360 in the next 6 months...which is strange, because the US is X360 territory.

[bicfitness]

Market saturation perhaps. America is the 360's strongest territory, so they would hit the ceiling next after the Wii (which is no officially in decline there).

[blitz0623]

Maybe because they already have a 360?

[darthv72]

not so surprising as you may think. Those who are saying they will get a ps3 generally also have a 360.

We have reached a point where it is very common to go back and pick up what once was considered the competition because we want to extend our interest in this generation.

Every console generation has been like this. You have your diehards that start off with one platform or the other but either mid way or even towards the end, they bite the bullet and pick up the other as well.

Honestly, i encourage that because it gives those who had a one sided view of the other a proper middle ground. Not saying their view changes but it balances things out and then they can offer a proper perspective on one or the other.

Now as to the main topic...kids are wanting what is popular and so far that popularity has been on the mobility market. I mean, yeah there are lots of things you can do with a tablet (or phone) that a console just cant do, yet.

The games may be simple but they are entertaining (some, not ALL) and the tablets can be used for school and other entertainment. It doesnt surprise me in the least about this data. I do feel, however, there is more gaming value in a dedicated platform than there is in these tablets.

But to each their own.

[SilentNegotiator]

@Blitz

That's what "market saturation" means -_-

[MNGamer-N]

I want a ps3 this season because it's the cheapest it's ever been.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

seems the world is sony territory. But hey can MS really be #1 in the USA forever?

MS did great but the Playstation brand is still stronger(I guess from ps2 days). MS had a year head start and are only on par with sony. That says a lot about popularity.

Besides if people ever want something different "the last of us & Beyond" should bring more sales maybe.

lol only one company investing in new current gen IP's.

[darthv72]

then nintendo would more than likely be the stronger. It has been around the longest and is something relatable to people of all ages. Think 1985 to current. not to mention the popularity of Mario in general.

"Playstation" would be more well known to those from 1995 to current. it also helps that the parent company (SONY) has been using it as free advertising in pretty much all of their movies.

MS as a company is more well known for windows which is why they have been working to extend the "XBOX" brand into things such as windows 8. I personally liked the Zune service but I can see why they would want to capitalize on the XBOX name in calling it XBOX Music or XBOX Movies.

[Picnic]

.

[Picnic]

And a beach is shark territory but it doesn't mean we always want to go swimming with the sharks.

[DragonKnight]

You mean water is shark territory right? If a shark were on a beach, no one would have anything to fear from it.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

I've never heard anyone say that and the monthly NPD numbers back my feelings.

[NastyLeftHook0]

a kid wants a crayon a man wants picasso, whats new? thats why i bought me a vita

[League_of_Draven]

So you wanted a crayon box with no crayons?

[NastyLeftHook0]

i use a higher form of logic and i dont expect you to understand what i wrote.

[neogeo]

As a Dad I go to the massage parlor. A kid wants a play ground and a man wants a massage parlor:)

[Liefx]

@tentonsoftube You sound like a tool.

[ChickeyCantor]

" i use a higher form of logic and i dont expect you to understand what i wrote. "

Laughed pretty hard. xD

[meowthemouse]

Its funny how it made no sense :P

[dark-hollow]

Everybody wants an iPad.

[swat_teem]

i don't =P

[BlackWolf]

@swat_teem
Second on that

[MysticStrummer]

If everyone who can afford an ipad wanted one, it would sell a lot more.

[millzy102]

not really rather have a portable games console, oh wait i have 2 the 3ds and psvita, well no need for an iPad then. but here's a tip if you kid wants an iPad buy them the iPad 1 they look the same and kids won't know the difference, save you big bucks.

[Conzul]

I don't want one. I go to extreme lengths to avoid iProducts. But I see which way the wind is blowing, and next semester I'm getting me an Infinity TF700

[Khordchange]

Kids want a Wii U more than an ipod touch or an Iphone, see what I did there?

[Ben_Grimm]

WHat did you do there?

[Khordchange]

A spun it around to make it a positive article

[neogeo]

I put dog poo on my chest.

See what I did there??

[Locksus]

Goddamn. Apple is taking over the world!

[Embeepee]

Kantor?

[animegamingnerd]

they can't since the rights to the world are owned by disney

[doogiebear]

Who cares? Kids are broke. Adults got the cold hard cash!

[iamnsuperman]

By that logic Christmas shouldn't be profitable for the children toy market and yet is booms with each company trying to get that much have toy. Children are influential and parents are increasingly buying children these products. How many children I see now with a smart phone is insane. I was much older than them before I got my first phone (Nokia 3410). The trend is adults are letting their children get tech at a much earlier age than before which is why marketing stuff at children works

[Deku-Johnny]

Adults got the cold hard cash but most of that cash is spent on their kids. With Christmas next month there will be more money spent on kids than adults.

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Studies show kids have greater influence than you might thought, even on adult purchases like cars and homes. Some companies (like Scion) market to a younger audience even though their real market audience is quite a bit older, as in the parents.

[abzdine]

adults buy COD, that's worse!

[doogiebear]

Yeah that's sad man

[tubers]

What about 13 year olds?

[Losyak]

Brilliant!

[rainslacker]

Guess that goes to show what strong marketing can do for a product. What I'd be more interested in is why they made that choice to see if it was well reasoned. Being kids though, it's a tough sell between a $600 tablet and a $300 console when it's the parents money.

[Hicken]

Go into a store(not this holiday, because you'll want to kill someone) and just watch the kids.

So many of them are spoiled. They do what they want, disregard their parents, act up, whine, cry, and are otherwise FOOLS in public... it'll probably make you want to kill someone.

But you KNOW if they're able to get away with this crap in public, there's NO resistance in private. They get what they want, whether they need it or not, whether their parents really know what it is or not.

That's why so many kids are on Call of Duty and other games they have no business even touching.

And that's why they want(and far too many will GET) iPads instead of gaming consoles. It's stupid, but that's parenting, these days(or an egregious lack thereof, I should say).

[Conzul]

Yeah but on the plus-side that keeps them from being in our game servers.

[rainslacker]

I won't disagree completely there. Some years ago a parent got mad at me when I yelled at her kid for running into me at the supermarket after he had been running up and down the isles screaming his head off for about 10 minutes. Then I yelled at her, and somehow I was the bad guy with the store manager asking me to leave for that brief outburst.

Anyways, it's certainly not all kids that do stuff like that, but there are quite a few. I think it comes down more to it's somehow politically incorrect to discipline your kids in public nowadays. I can't say it would be like that at home, since I know parents eventually get tired of it. But the social stigma attached to firm discipline just prevents some people from being proper parents, leading to a more overly sensitive approach. Unfortunately some kids just need firm discipline. Funnily enough the well behaved ones are probably the ones that get the most discipline, and likely will do better in school and become more productive adults.

I still think there's a big difference though in getting a kid a toy they want (even a $60 game), and getting them an $600 tablet (or something similar). It may be good for a Christmas present if the kid is responsible enough, but I think a lot of parents know that kids attention spans tend to wane pretty quickly. A purchase that large is usually carefully considered. If it were my kid I wouldn't be against buying them one, but only if they had been wanting one for a long time, and they could give me valid reasons for wanting one, and if I thought they were responsible enough to use it.

That being said, I'm going nowhere near the stores this holiday. I got my shopping done weeks ago.:)

[chasegarcia]

I asked my little cousin(12) what she wants for Christmas. She said: Ipod. I asked her how about a WiiU? She said: nope. How about a PSvita? she said: what is that lol

[Anon1974]

Not surprising considering the Vita isn't targeted at children. Why would they have heard of it?

However, the kids I know that used to be glued to their DS's are now happily playing on tablets and the iPod touch. With so many parents going this route for their kids it's no wonder the Ipad is so high on the list. That's what they see everyone else has.

I guess it's not much different than my parents buying me a Vic-20 when I was a kid. However, I think my parents might have thought twice about that purchase if it was designed to be carried around. Thinking of kids carting around a $500-600 piece of tech makes me cringe.

[rpd123]

Well that's because it's 6-12 year olds. Teenagers are more likely to want a console than 6-12 year olds. When you leave out one of gaming's main demographics, it kind of skews the results.

[nevin1]

You would think teenagers will be more interested in Ipads vs 6-12 yr olds.

[animegamingnerd]

i am a teenager and don't care for apple products

[rainslacker]

That's a fairly broad generalization. Tablets make communicating with friends pretty easy, and there are a lot of kids of all ages that text like it's the only way to communicate. Socializing today is all about instant gratification, so it would make sense that they would want a product that lets them do it wherever they are. On top of that the tablets let them play games, and do other computer things, all in one convenient place. Also keep in mind not all kids are gamers, and it may just be they like a fun casual game to play once in a while, such as angry birds or fruit ninja.

[rpd123]

Fair enough. It would still be much closer than it was in this survey. I also think teenagers would likely go for the iPhone 5 more than an iPad. iPads can't be brought to school and played discreetly.

I for one am going for a PS3 this year. Though I am odd for my age group, I still have a dumb phone. My friends mostly get games that they couldn't buy during the year or just money and giftcards.

[tubers]

Genius.

[rainslacker]

I think it would be closer than this survey says as well. Ask a kid what they want every 10 minutes for an hour and you'll get 6 different answers. Nothing in this survey says they wouldn't want both though.

Also this survey says that many would want both. Since it's not a pick one type of survey, it just means more kids are interested in it, and not necessarily what they actually want. Kind of got a kick out of the kids 6-12 interested in buying a $600 tablet within 6 months, like they'd really have that kind of money. When you get down to it they'd go with the cheaper option anyways more often than not.

[Norrison]

Read the whole thing, it shows 13+ percentages too, it goes in this order
Ipad
PC
Tablet other than Ipad
WiiU
Iphone

[CalvinKlein]

Wow I sure as shit would never buy a kid something that costs 500-700$ and is pretty much a giant screen or them to break within the first few months.

Our society contains the stupidest sheep in the history of mankind. Saw new 3rd gen I pads getting sold out at bestbuy because they offer 50$ off. HAAHHAHA thing still costs 300 more than it should.

If my kid asked for an Ipad Id get them a laptop with a dedicated GPU for the same price and then show them how to play real games on it.

My parents would never let me a cell Phone back in 2001 or whatever when I went to HS. They didnt get me a phone until I had a car because I would stay out all night and they would get worried. Now every 6 year old has to have the latest iphone or they hrow a fit. ahahahhahaha

[nevin1]

But what if your kid say

"well all my friends parents bought them ipads"

[live2play]

your kids dont rule the house
its time parents got a backbone

[KrisButtar]

But what if your kid say

"well all my friends parents bought them ipads"

i would say, "if your friends parents wanted their child to jump off a building, would you want that too?"

[Janitor]

So....your kid asks for something, you spend the money on something you think is better and that they didn't ask for? Father of the year right here guys.

[ape007]

thankfully I had an awesome childhood

[Captain Qwark 9]

ill never understand the point of tablets and ipads personally. almost anything the ipad can do, a smartphone can as well, just on a smaller screen. ipad is useless compared to a laptop or desktop and ipads are sh*t in the gaming department compared to a console.

i just dont see the point lol

[DiScOPiMp]

My galaxy note 2 is where its at.. ;-)

[tubers]

Marketing.. Apple leads the hype and trend.. the other companies follow and shove it down with effective ads.

Why do people buy a bigger TV? It's all the same depending on the distance. It's really relative and subjective.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

I dont understand kids these days.

[Thepcz]

doesnt mean they will get it

[mynameisEvil]

Pfft, who wants pounds? Everybody would rather have the dollar, right?

...

Right? Guys? N... no?

<I'm an American and I approve of this disapproving message.>

<Also, this comment was completely pointless. Then again, I said it, so what do you expect?>

[Qrphe]

That was painful to read yet I've bubbled you up for "Interesting" given that "Trying" wasn't an option.

[mynameisEvil]

@Qrphe
If you thought that was painful to read, you should read my other comments.

[nevin1]

In my day, Videogames was the number one thing on kids mind.

[Picnic]

In my day it was grammar.

[SamPao]

please, enlighten me, what day was that? xD

[animegamingnerd]

@Ultr last tuesday

[Picnic]

Actually my reply was pedantic. It seems OK to use 'Videogames' as a singular term for a genre (rather than always regarding it as a plural that would necessitate the word 'were' instead of 'was'). It still should have been 'minds' rather than 'mind' but that's an easy thing to miss in a hurry.

[KMCROC]

@iamnsuperman children are whinier ,habitual complainers, who throw tantrums for any little thing they want, Parent are weak souls who give in to this BS behavior a)cause they feel their child might resent them b)child display these tactics in public where a parent can not be stern cause the interference of bystanders, other shoppers though preventing the parent for reprimanding thee child for such behavior c)the parents just don't give a damn.
Sad part retailers & product manufacturer are aware of these scenarios so they take advantage of them by the use of product placement be it Thur commercials or store set up displays.Has nothing to do with influential just parenting issues.

[Janitor]

Or....people like to see the look on their kids faces when they see Santa brought them an awesome gift they've been wanting. Jesus, a lot of Scrooges in here.

[KMCROC]

Am not say people should not get their children anything for X-mas. just pointing out that it's not all influences.

[Deku-Johnny]

I'd rather have a Wii U than an iPad.

[Bowzabub]

Kids also would eat fast food 3 times a day for the rest of their lives given the option... So yeah... looking forward to this years Biggest Loser- Kids edition. Ironic.

[Picnic]

Draonknight, I'm using 'beach' as an umbrella term for the sand and the sea part (as far as a tall man could walk in without having to swim anyway). The tide continually laps up on different parts of a beach so where the sea ends and where the beach starts is constantly changing.

Anyway, I refer to the fictional film 'Sand Sharks':
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt...
in which our imaginary aquatic adversary (no slur on the real sand sharks) appears to show no respect for what it may regard as arbritary land / water divisions.

[Chrono]

can't blame them

[shivvy24]

my 10 yr old bro wants an ipad , then i went on ebay and bouht a ps1 and found all my ps1 games like spyro and crash , dusted them off and now his hooked into spyro 1 , see sometimes the best and fun games are the old ones

[SamPao]

They want what they know :) right? If the TV is full of ipad ads, they want an ipad. Kids are very easily influenced by ads, thats why parents should make the thinking and buy them something real, like a console!!! Bitch, those Ipad games NOBODY will remember! I still dream of Spyro... and some of those awesome demos I had back then..

[jmc8888]

Well lots of parents know Nintendo because they had one. They by now also know xbox or playstation, and some of them had one, that is if they didn't already buy them for their older siblings.

[millzy102]

very smart kids dont know what they want them selves or care for graffics so start them on old games and build them up to the big guns.

[KrisButtar]

i did something like that, but i took the ps1 outta the closet and gave it to my sister, i still have all my old systems minus the ps1 now. lol

[AcidKill]

My kids wants some boobies....

[mynameisEvil]

...

Who the hell doesn't want some boobies? Even people with boobies like boobies. Because boobies are the greatest thing ever given unto us.

That's a fact, too. Approved by Einstein. If Einstein had sex, that is. I know Nikola Tesla didn't. 'Tis a shame, truly.

So, yeah, boobs, beer, monster trucks, football, yeehaw. 'MURRICA.

[kma2k]

im replacing my ps3 so i guess that counts as a sale!

[Y_5150]

I see a lot more value and price for the Wii U. Just some consumers are blind to see the same.

[spurgeonryan]

I agree.

[jmc8888]

One funny thing is that there's 3 Apple things on there, thus it will bias kids to choose apple.

Most of those kids would take any one of the three. Thus if you say, do you want an Ipad...sure. What about an Ipad mini...sure. I'm pretty sure they don't want an Ipad AND an Ipad mini.

Also the wii u is new while the Iwhatever's are common knowledge.

If you ask a kid, do you want this...yeah...this...yeah...th is yeah.

Plus everyone knows when you have alot of things from the same company or product line, people tend to answer yes to one of them. It's stacking the deck. Kids are more susceptible to this.

So the data is flawed. I'd rather know if you asked them open ended, it's probably be a whole different story. Also, after they see the Wii U at a friend's house, how many would change their tune? Parent's would go tough shh, I just bought you an Ipad or Ipad mini....but it can do this..this..this. I bet it's going to happen a ton of times in the next few months.

Right now the iwhatever is more known to kids that it's new and I agree that many kids already have a 360/PS3/PC, etc.

Why anyone would want an Ipad mini is beyond me. Even Jobs didn't want it made. It's just not a good product. On it's own in a bubble, yes, but within the context of the others, no. Plus just like the phones, they update them way too often and cost way too much. It's more expensive than a basic wii u. Quite a bit more expensive than a 360/PS3. Plus for not too much more you could have a PC.

Notice how low the earlier things like IPod are. That used to be MUCH higher.

[strigoi814]

Adult has toys too like dolls and sticks..thats news right

[TheLastGuardian]

Kids these days.

[Qrphe]

Kids have always been kids and will want what the media tells them they should want; it's not their fault since they're in a stage of life in which they're very easy manipulable.

[stragomccloud]

No love for Apple TV. Seriously though, why doesn't that thing die???? Maybe one day it'll be a success.

[Embeepee]

It is a success. It sells 5m per year with no marketing or wide release...

[g-nome]

My 7 yr old prefers the ipad above the vita and 3ds too.

[DC1980]

Getting an iPad 4 tomorrow for myself. Already have the PS3 and 360.