Apple Saw iOS Device Activations Grow 2.3 Times on Christmas Day

[RaduTyrsina]

According to new data published by mobile analytics firm Flurry, the rate of device activations for Apple more than doubled on Christmas Day this year, registering a 2.3x growth. Rival company Samsung saw activations of its hardware grow 1.9 times on December 25, but the the real winner was Amazon, with an impressive 24-fold surge in new Kindle devices. Mary Ellen Gordon flom Flurry said the following:

In each of the past three years, Apple has experienced a larger Christmas lift than Samsung; however the gap between them narrowed this year compared to previous years. While the magnitude of the Christmas increase is smaller for these manufacturers than for Amazon, their baseline level of activations is so large that even a doubling of daily activations on Christmas (1.9x for Samsung and 2.3x for Apple this year, according to our data) represents a large number of devices.

Overall device activations were up by 63% compared to an average day in the first three weeks of December, which shows that many have chosen tech products as Christmas gifts. Flurry also explains why Amazon was so successful:

We believe price, business model, target market, and form factor all contribute to the big boost in Kindle activations at Christmas relative to other times of the year. Amazon sells Kindle tablets at cost, putting them within the Christmas budgets of more people than some other devices. The reason Amazon sells tablets at cost is that for them tablets are a channel for promoting physical goods and promoting and delivering digital content. That same retail business model means that Amazon is top of mind for many consumers during the holiday season, giving it lots of opportunity to promote its tablets as Christmas gifts.

What tablet or smartphone have you bought this Christmas?

Source: Flurry, iPhoneForums