Apple devices accounted for just under half of new mobile device activations during the holiday season, according to a new report released today by mobile analytics firm Flurry. 49.1 percent of all new devices activated were Apple devices, and while that number is slightly down from last year's 51.3 percent, Apple still dominated all other mobile device companies.
Samsung devices, for example, were responsible for 19.8 percent of all device activations, while Nokia devices made up 2 percent and Xiaomi devices made up 1.5 percent of all device activations.
Larger-screened "phablets" like Apple's 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus were especially popular during the 2015 holiday season compared to prior years, representing 27 percent of new device activations. That's up from 4 percent in 2013 and 13 percent in 2014. Full-sized tablets have gone down in popularity, making up only 9 percent of new device activations in 2015.
Medium-sized iPhones like the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 were still the most popular Apple devices over the holiday period at 65 percent, followed by full-sized tablets, phablets, and smaller tablets like the iPad mini. Comparatively, only 35 percent of Android devices activated were medium-sized smartphones, while 50 percent were phablets.
Apple's phablet was introduced in September 2014, and in less than a year and a half has commanded 12% share of all Apple devices activated during Christmas week. This appears to be coming at the expense of medium phones and small tablets as more users opt for the size in between the iPhone and iPad Mini. You'll note we did not break out a "Large Tablet" category for the new iPad Pro. These are grouped into "Full-Size Tablets" and represented less than 1% of device activations.
As for app downloads, Christmas day saw customers downloading 2.2x as many apps as the average day in December across multiple platforms including the Apple App Store and Android's Google Play.
To gather its data, Flurry measured smart device activations and app downloads from the more than 780,000 apps it tracks. Data was collected from December 19 to December 25.
Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
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The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
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The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
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While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device.
Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
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As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
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Starting today, April 24, Apple Stores around the world are giving away a special pin for free to customers who request one, while supplies last.
Photo Credit: Filip Chudzinski
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Apple's $570 million fine from the EU has triggered a sharp rebuke from the White House, which called the fine a form of economic extortion, Reuters reports.
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When an iPad running iPadOS 19 is connected to a Magic Keyboard, a macOS-like menu bar will appear on the screen, according to the leaker Majin Bu.
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I admit I was one of them. Got myself an iPhone 6s Plus 64GB and abandoned Android.
Honestly the 6s Plus is a great phone. Once you have used big screened phones, you just cannot go back to a smaller one. Everything looks crammed on a smaller iPhone 6s and on the 6s plus there is a whole lot of room.
I think what many of us would like is a small 5s-sized iPhone that can expand the display to 5" or 6" when necessary (like you sometimes see in science-fiction movies).
Or like the folding phone that Samsung keeps predicting each year that they'll put into limited production.
The poor sales of smaller smartphones is probably the result of a lack of stock. Few companies make them anymore. And people looking to buy an iPhone probably wouldn't want a 5s that has less storage, memory and a slower processor than Apple's other offerings. The 5c had the same issues. If Apple sold a 4" iPhone that equaled their other offerings except in display size, then we'd be able to accurately judge whether people really want that form factor.
I admit I was one of them. Got myself an iPhone 6s Plus 64GB and abandoned Android.
Honestly the 6s Plus is a great phone. Once you have used big screened phones, you just cannot go back to a smaller one. Everything looks crammed on a smaller iPhone 6s and on the 6s plus there is a whole lot of room.
Well i've been using a 4.7" iPhone 6/6s since the day the 6 came out and I yearn to go back to a 4" iPhone 5s sized phone still - so you can't blanked statement everyone with that theory i'm afraid.
