For most people, Christmas is the time for giving, and also receiving. And there is no doubt that many of the gifts people received (or bought for themselves) during the holidays are of the mobile device variety. But it certainly makes one wonder -- which type of mobile devices were given or purchased during Christmas time?
Well, it turned out that during Christmas week, Apple fared very well. When people get a new handset, they usually go to app stores to download apps and games. Analytics firm Flurry analyzes the frequency of those downloads in the hopes of ascertaining which mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) were the most popular holiday gifts.
Based on Flurry's findings, 51.3 percent of mobile devices activated during Christmas week were handsets made by Apple. 17.7 percent were from Samsung, while 5.8 percent were from Microsoft.
Because Flurry is providing analytics for over 600,000 apps only, it may not be as accurate as the raw numbers provided by Apple or Google. Also, app download statistics are not the only available measure for determining which mobile devices are being used by consumers. And you have to remember that as popular December 25 is in the world, not everyone gives gifts or buys presents on Christmas Day, except maybe for Western markets. Still, Flurry's findings should give a nice overall picture.
Also, Flurry's analysis also suggests that more and more people are buying smartphones with large display screens (or phablets). That is may not be too mind-blowing, considering the popularity of the recent iPhone 6 Plus and the Google Nexus 6 devices. As estimated by Flurry, of the new devices launched in 2013, only 4 percent sported display screens that measured between 5 and 6.9 inches. But in 2014, that percent has tripled to 13 percent. If this trend continues by next year, it looks like phablets are going to give tablets a run for their money.
What makes Flurry's findings extra interesting is that is actually suggests that Microsoft is doing okay, especially with regards to its Lumia phones. Indeed, Microsoft's Windows Phone-run devices are just behind Apple and Samsung in terms of device activations during Christmas week. That is certainly not bad considering that earlier this month, the International Data Corporation had only estimated a 2.7 percent market share for Windows Phone devices.
But wait -- is it possible that this is just a Christmas thing? There may be some truth to that. Flurry after all estimated that the number of app downloads during Christmas week are 2.5 times higher than on any other day in the month of December.
Still, iOS wins this round. When the holiday season wraps up, we will just have to see if iOS can retain its advantage over Android.
