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Apple dominates holiday giving, iPhones & iPads making up more than half of mobile device activations

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Data from Yahoo-owned analytics company Flurry shows that iPhones and iPads comprised more than half of all mobile device activations between 19th and 25th December, at 51.3% – almost three times as many as second-placed Samsung.

Apple accounted for 51% of the new device activations worldwide Flurry recognized in the week leading up to and including Christmas Day (December 19th – 25th). Samsung held the #2 position with 18% of new device activations, and Microsoft (Nokia) rounded out the top three with 5.8% share for mostly Lumia devices. After the top three manufacturers, the device market becomes increasingly fragmented with only Sony and LG commanding more than one percent share of new activations on Christmas Day.

The company notes that while Chinese companies Xiaomi, Huawei and HTC didn’t reach 1%, this reflects the fact that Christmas is not celebrated in their home market … 

In terms of individual devices, the iPhone 6 unsurprisingly took the #1 slot, while the iPhone 6 Plus took fifth place. Flurry noted that there had been a significant switch from tablets to phablets compared to previous years, with the iPhone 6 Plus playing a significant role in this trend. It was reported earlier this month that Apple’s phablet had captured 41% of all US phablet sales in the August to October quarter.

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Flurry obtains its data by tracking installations of more than 600,000 apps, noting the platform on which they are installed. As you’d expect, games and messaging apps were the most popular categories during the holidays.

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Comments

  1. Looking forward to similar metrics in wearables/smartwatches next Christmas once the Apple Watch enjoys its first holiday season on the market when compared to Android Wear devices.

    By then Apple will have resolved any inventory issues so there’s plenty of stock to meet the holiday shopping demand.

    • rettun1 - 9 years ago

      I dunno if it will be quite as dramatic, because the watch comes out in the beginning of the year whereas the phones were announced at the end of one. But I suspect that the watch will be a hit, as far as smart watches go

  2. standardpull - 9 years ago

    Today’s USA Today info graphic says that 51.3% of respondents have a happier outlook for the next two years, while 48.7% said that they expected to be sad for the next two years.

  3. Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

    Are these numbers reflecting just the US or are these Global activations? It would be nice if they clarified what specific market they are analyzing.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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