Mobile analytics firm Flurry today reports Apple accounted for just over half of new mobile device activations for the holiday season, with 51.3 percent of worldwide activations going to the Cupertino-based company.
Using data from more than 600,000 tracked apps, Flurry focused on the week leading up to and including Christmas, from December 19-25. Trailing Apple in worldwide device activations was Samsung with nearly 18 percent and Nokia at almost 6 percent. Xiaomi, Huawei, and HTC all had less than one percent of device activations, which Flurry notes could be related to their popularity in Asian markets where the holiday season isn't the big gift-giving event it is in other parts of the world.
To put this in perspective, for every Samsung devices that was activated, Apple activated 2.9 devices. For every Microsoft Lumia device activated, Apple activated 8.8 devices. While, the holidays in general and Christmas in particular are not the sole indicator of the smartphone market share and trends, it is safe to say that Apple’s newly released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have had a blockbuster holiday season, despite a lackluster holiday season for the consumer electronics industry.
Flurry also notes that on Christmas Day the number of app installs more than doubled compared to the early weeks of December, pointing to games and messaging apps as seeing the biggest jumps on Christmas morning.
The analytics firm also notes that "phablets" are gaining significant share in the market thanks to Apple's entry with the iPhone 6 Plus. "Medium Phones" such as the iPhone 6 still dominate the market as in years past, but the growth of the phablet in 2014 has taken share away from "Full-size Tablets" and, less drastically, "Small Tablets."
Looking at the year ahead, Flurry predicts iOS devices will continue to perform well alongside a continued shift in public opinion that will drive continued growth for the phablet form factor.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future.
"I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public.
There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre.
Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
While this may look like a huge success, it's only short-term. The last "revolutionary" thing Apple created was the iPad, but they failed to update it and continuously keep it fresh. Now, more and more people are switching to alternative tablets.
Now that the iPhone has made a non-revolutionary change by creating a bigger screen and adding unremarkable additions to its iOS (Samsung thought of this over four? years ago). Even Google is surpassing Apple's Siri with Cortana. Really? Google? Does anyone remember how bad it was when it first came out?!
Apple has failed and failed to innovate and now with the iWatch is moving backwards to try and find any niche it can in the market. Apple is a failure and I hope they can get it together fast before all those iPhone users realize this.
This is one of the dumbest comments I have ever read.
First, Cortana is Microsoft not Google. Second, do you really classify a bigger screen as a revolutionary achievement by Samsung?
Apple has failed and failed to innovate and now with the iWatch is moving backwards to try and find any niche it can in the market. Apple is a failure and I hope they can get it together fast before all those iPhone users realize this.
I'm glad you're not managing my tech investments. Or maybe you're just using sarcasm! If so, LOL.
While this may look like a huge success, it's only short-term. The last "revolutionary" thing Apple created was the iPad, but they failed to update it and continuously keep it fresh. Now, more and more people are switching to alternative tablets.
Now that the iPhone has made a non-revolutionary change by creating a bigger screen and adding unremarkable additions to its iOS (Samsung thought of this over four? years ago). Even Google is surpassing Apple's Siri with Cortana. Really? Google? Does anyone remember how bad it was when it first came out?!
Apple has failed and failed to innovate and now with the iWatch is moving backwards to try and find any niche it can in the market. Apple is a failure and I hope they can get it together fast before all those iPhone users realize this.
While this may look like a huge success, it's only short-term. The last "revolutionary" thing Apple created was the iPad, but they failed to update it and continuously keep it fresh. Now, more and more people are switching to alternative tablets.
Now that the iPhone has made a non-revolutionary change by creating a bigger screen and adding unremarkable additions to its iOS (Samsung thought of this over four? years ago). Even Google is surpassing Apple's Siri with Cortana. Really? Google? Does anyone remember how bad it was when it first came out?!
Apple has failed and failed to innovate and now with the iWatch is moving backwards to try and find any niche it can in the market. Apple is a failure and I hope they can get it together fast before all those iPhone users realize this.
I am sure all 800 Million users with switch to Android after reading this.
While this may look like a huge success, it's only short-term. The last "revolutionary" thing Apple created was the iPad, but they failed to update it and continuously keep it fresh. Now, more and more people are switching to alternative tablets.
Now that the iPhone has made a non-revolutionary change by creating a bigger screen and adding unremarkable additions to its iOS (Samsung thought of this over four? years ago). Even Google is surpassing Apple's Siri with Cortana. Really? Google? Does anyone remember how bad it was when it first came out?!
Apple has failed and failed to innovate and now with the iWatch is moving backwards to try and find any niche it can in the market. Apple is a failure and I hope they can get it together fast before all those iPhone users realize this.
Yeah, it's almost like Apple couldn't hold on to greater than 50% of the tablet market all by themselves by only selling the most profitable, higher end models while up against undercutting, race to the bottom, sub-par performing, crap...someone should be fired!!
Samsung thought of what, exactly, 4 years ago? Having a gigantic ass battery on a phone and including a larger screen to cover up the complete lack of power efficiency of the OS? Yes, that's what they "thought of". Also interesting is that Samsung's ads "welcome" Apple to 2012 while trying to ape Apple's 2013 features...and really, they themselves are still stuck in 2012 creating the same Galaxy S series phone over and over again. It's like they're not even trying to change the design, and their sales are slipping...but Apple's the one who's messing up here?
Not sure if you realize the difference between success and failure but when there are now more iPhone users than there were before, it looks like those people buying Android seem to be "falling for it".
