Holiday Gifts Drive New iOS Device Activations Sharply Higher

While it seems obvious that the holiday gift-giving season is a strong driver for iOS device sales, as evidenced in part by past history and Apple's forecast of a blockbuster quarter, it is generally difficult to quantify that holiday boost before Apple reports device sales as part of its quarterly earnings or makes public statements about App Store milestones.

A couple of analytics firms have, however, put out reports today seeking to offer some measure of the bump in demand for iOS devices and those of competing platforms such as Android.

According to Flurry, both iOS and Android saw a "massive influx" of devices registering on the firm's servers, coming in through the over 140,000 apps using Flurry Analytics. Data collated by Flurry shows that combined new device activations for iOS and Android rose from an average of 1.5 million per day during the first three weeks of December to 6.8 million devices on Christmas Day, an increase of 353%. This compares to a total of 2.8 million new devices detected on the previous record-setting day of Christmas 2010.

flurry christmas 2011 activations
All of those new device activations also drove increased App Store activity, with Flurry measuring an increase of 125% in iOS and Android app downloads on Christmas Day compared to the early December baseline. Flurry's data shows that the 242 million app downloads on Christmas Day spiked from an average of 108 million per day during the first three weeks of the month. Flurry notes that the increase in app downloads is smaller than that for new device activations on a percentage basis due to the higher baseline from apps being installed onto the already-large installed base of devices.

Illustrating how different analytics firms can see somewhat different patterns due in part to what data is used for baseline purposes, Localytics issued a report showing iOS device activations coming in more than 12 times higher during the holiday weekend than they did during previous weekends. The increase was over 15x for iOS devices as a whole in the United States, with the iPod performing strongly at a 21x increase due to the relative lower cost and lack of service contract, factors which make them relatively more popular as gifts than iPhones or iPads.

localytics christmas 2011 devices
Comparing iOS to Android, Localytics found that Android also grew at approximately 12.5x over baseline. Localytics also looked at country-by-country comparisons, showing iOS outpacing Android in terms of growth in the United States, Germany, and the UK, while Android performed better in most of the other top countries.

Popular Stories

iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

Leaker Reveals Amount of RAM in iPhone 17 Through iPhone 17 Pro Max

Wednesday July 9, 2025 8:08 am PDT by
Three out of four iPhone 17 models will feature more RAM than the equivalent iPhone 16 models, according to a new leak that aligns with previous rumors. The all-new iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with 12GB of RAM, according to Fixed Focus Digital, an account with more than two million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The...
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card Expanding to More Countries

Tuesday July 8, 2025 7:34 pm PDT by
Apple is expanding the ability to add an Apple Account Card to the Wallet app to more countries, according to backend Apple Pay changes. With iOS 15.5, Apple updated the Wallet app to allow users to add an Apple Account Card, which displays the Apple credit balance associated with an Apple ID. If you receive an Apple gift card, for example, it is added to an Apple Account that is also...
macbook pro blue green

M5 MacBook Pro No Longer Coming in 2025

Thursday July 10, 2025 12:38 pm PDT by
Apple does not plan to refresh any Macs with updated M5 chips in 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are now planned for the first half of 2026. Gurman previously said that Apple would debut the M5 MacBook Pro models in late 2025, but his newest report suggests that Apple is "considering" pushing them back to 2026. Apple is now said to be...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive These Five Perks

Wednesday July 9, 2025 9:20 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, did you know that Apple offers you five perks beyond the extra storage space, at no additional cost? Here are the perks included with all iCloud+ plans:Private Relay keeps your Safari browsing history entirely private from network providers, websites, and even Apple. Hide My Email generates unique, random email addresses whenever needed. Hom...

Top Rated Comments

Oletros Avatar
177 months ago
Showing Android as a single column hides the terrible fragmentation that actually exists on the Android platform.

What has to do "terrible fragmentation" with total sales?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drwatz0n Avatar
177 months ago
Why is Android always shown as a single unit compared to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch IOS devices. Certainly each manufacturer's unique version of Android installed on unique equipment is a different device. There should be multiple segments in the Android column for each manufacturer with it's customized Android software just like the IOS column shows the different IOS devices. Showing Android as a single column hides the terrible fragmentation that actually exists on the Android platform.
If you want to talk about fragmentation of the graph, let's discuss how it's fair to compare Android devices, which for the most part are contract cell phones, to iPod touch sales. If you remove the iPod touch from the graph, Android and iPhone/iPad growth are relatively similar.

EDIT: If you remove the iPod touch, the growth rate for the iPhone/iPad is just over 12x, as opposed to Android's mid-11x level (based on US numbers). Not that I am assuming ALL Android sales are on contract, but compared to the iPod touch, it's unfair.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Shasterball Avatar
177 months ago
Does it take into account the fact that there will be a decrease in activations during December 1-20 as compared to your "average" 3 week period because of people holding off until Christmas? I would suspect you would see the same decrease in activations before a product release. Sounds like this would skew the numbers…
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aerok Avatar
177 months ago
Why is Android always shown as a single unit compared to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch IOS devices. Certainly each manufacturer's unique version of Android installed on unique equipment is a different device. There should be multiple segments in the Android column for each manufacturer with it's customized Android software just like the IOS column shows the different IOS devices. Showing Android as a single column hides the terrible fragmentation that actually exists on the Android platform.
Why do you care so much? Btw, this has nothing to do with fragmentation?

Gratz to all manufacturers, the CEOs will touch a great end of year bonus!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
177 months ago
Why is Android always shown as a single unit compared to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch IOS devices.

Not enough info to accurately break out tablets from phones.

There should be multiple segments in the Android column for each manufacturer with it's (sic) customized Android software just like the IOS column shows the different IOS devices.

We also never see the iOS phone column separated into 3GS, 4 and 4S sections. They have different screen resolutions and capabilities.

Showing Android as a single column hides the terrible fragmentation that actually exists on the Android platform.

You mean the amazing selection that exists :)

--

Both Android and iOS have multiple screen sizes and resolutions.

Both have multiple OS versions in use. Just looking at new device sales doesn't speak to that issue. For example, less than half of iOS devices in use are running iOS version 5; the majority are still on 4.x, with a few still on 3.x.

However, from a experienced developer standpoint, the so-called "terrible fragmentation" on both devices isn't that big a deal. It's also not that big a deal to users, since smart developers target the lowest setup possible in order to have as wide an audience as possible.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aerok Avatar
177 months ago
Just what I wanted to say... Lies, damn lies and statistics, too many 'news' articles are generated from them...

How is this a lie? This news is only to show how successful they both were...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)