They were supposed to be the “screeniac” generation: glued to iPads, rotting their brains on TikTok, destined for a Wall-E future. Instead, Gen Alpha is buying CDs, demanding dumb phones, and commanding over $100 billion in spending power before most of them can even drive. Vansh Gupta breaks down why the biggest bet in consumer culture is on the youngest players in the game.

Kids these days, am I right? Always on their phones, defiant as ever, always leaving a mess for us to clean up. A bunch of “screeniacs” who will never touch grass. Gen Alpha is doomed… or are we too antiquated to notice their brilliance?

Technology was their environment from the get-go. They are notoriously denoted as the “iPad Generation.” With tech’s heavy involvement in their early life, one may think they are more robot than human. The data says otherwise.

Gen Alpha is more involved with tech and screens than any generation ever. According to Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of US teens use AI chatbots. 85% play video games. Social media? 22% of Gen Alpha kids use it as a primary platform. Gen Z? 11.9% at the same age, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

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Contrary to mainstream belief, the brainrot has not gotten to their brains. Pew found that 48% of teens now view social media negatively, up from 32% in 2022. They are more in-tune with current issues: gun violence, environmental concerns, and school safety. When I was 12, I was worried about building out my fidget spinner collection. Today’s youth is writing in Siliconeer about blockchain and AI in medicine. They are planning and taking active steps for future wellness.

So, if they are skeptical of social media and are taking on responsibilities taken primarily by adults, where are they actually spending their free time? Gaming. Through online servers on Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox, Discord, and Twitch, Gen Alpha has turned gaming into its primary social network. They are making friends across the globe in ways Instagram and TikTok only wish they could replicate. Google Search? Might as well use a phonebook. This generation’s first instinct is to ask AI. “Ask chat” is the new “Google it.”

Here is where it gets wild. The most digitally immersed generation in history is simultaneously driving an analog consumption boom.

The Dog Man graphic novel series has sold more than 70 million print copies since 2016, with 2025 sales surging 34% over the prior year, according to Scholastic. Yes, physical books. Not off a Kindle. Taylor Swift sold nearly 2 million CDs of The Life of a Showgirl, making it the top-selling CD of 2025, according to Luminate. Screen-free audio players like Toniebox and Yoto have sold millions of units. iPods and Walkmans are also making a comeback in the used marketplace. Screen-free camera brand, Camp Snap, took off after Swift was spotted with one at a Chiefs game. Canon’s digital cameras are also being noticed in the hands of the youth. And remember those industrial-grade Nokias? The so-called “dumb phones” we ditched 15 years ago? Screenless phone startup Tin Can was so popular its service crashed on Christmas Day.

A majority of Gen Alpha wants to shop in a physical store over an online storefront. Amazon, Target, Walmart, and the MoMA Design Store now mail print toy catalogs. South Asian techie parents of Silicon Valley are obsessed with bright white recessed lighting. Gen Alpha craves warm, lamp-lit, intimate settings. Wired headphones, vinyl, loose clothing…the technologies and trends of yesteryear are picking up fast.

Gen Alpha gets to wear the “Strength in Numbers” title, outnumbering every generation that came before. But they are just kids, so what difference does it make? More than you think. After all, this generation is now turning 16, and a new generation is now taking shape: Gen Beta.

Gen Alpha commands over $100 billion in US spending power, according to a DKC Analytics report. Their consumption patterns are unlike any generation before. Gen Alpha invests in themselves with record wellness spending—from luxury skincare in elementary school to weightier commitments like therapy. Young boys are spending hundreds on cologne. It is not just their own money: 42% of parents say their household spending is influenced by their kids’ opinions. These are large purchases. Cars, appliances, even where to live. Gen Alpha is loud, proud, and financially formidable.

The problem is that us older folks are the ones hooked to our screens. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts—there are too many poisons to choose from. We all assume Gen Alpha is worse than us. That could not be further from the truth. And this is coming from a Gen Z.

Gen Alpha is a living contradiction. They are equally immersed in tech as they are skeptical of it. They keep the closest tabs on AI, gaming, and automation while turning towards vinyl, print, and dumb phones. It is a shift I personally cannot explain, but I am so here for it. With $100 billion in direct spending and billions more in household influence, this is a generation, brands cannot afford to misread. The big Alpha bet will decide their success, and the time to start pivoting is now.

 

Images: Adobe Firefly, Google Gemini and Adobe Stock