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.
Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall.
At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface.
The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas.
Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial
The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
Friday August 29, 2025 4:54 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple and Samsung have reportedly issued cease-and-desist notices to Xiaomi in India for an ad campaign that directly compares the rivals' devices to Xiaomi's products. The two companies have threatened the Chinese vendor with legal action, calling the ads "disparaging."
Ads have appeared in local print media and on social media that take pot shots at the competitors' premium offerings. One...
Monday September 1, 2025 4:35 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series this month, 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 to...
Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.7 for compatible iPhone models, according to evidence of the update in the MacRumors visitor logs.
We expect iOS 18.7 to be released in September, alongside iOS 26. The update will likely include fixes for security vulnerabilities, but little else.
iOS 18.7 will be one of the final updates ever released for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR,...
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".
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
