A new survey has found that children as young as four years old will be receiving a mobile phone this Christmas.

 Parents cite peer pressure as the number one reason for buying.


Almost three quarters (72%) of parents will opt for a contract instead of pay as you go. 

The majority (95%) of parents will be buying their children smartphones as opposed to phones that do not have apps or full internet access. 

More than half (55%) admitted the number one reason they were buying a mobile phone was because their child’s friends owned one, and 32% stated safety.
The dual survey, commissioned by TigerMobiles.com, firstly quizzed 3,150 parents with children aged between four and 12 years old on the most popular products that made up their shopping list for Christmas 2014.

Gadgets were a strong performer throughout with 53% of parents listing a mobile phone as being on their shopping list. Other popular gifts were tablet computers (59%), games consoles (38%) and the Kidizoom Smart Watch (25%).
Overall a gadget in some shape or form was on 96% of parents Christmas shopping lists.

 The second survey invited the 1,670 parents who listed a mobile phone on their list to answer further questions about their buying habits.
The most popular handsets included the iPhone 5S (36%), the iPhone 4S (23%), Samsung Galaxy S4 (14%) and the Moto G (11%).