DailyTech - Nearly 7M Android and iOS Devices Activated on Christmas Day

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Gadgets Nearly 7M Android and iOS Devices Activated on Christmas Day
Mark Kurlyandchik - December 28, 2011 10:28 AM

26 comment(s) - last by Cheesew1z69.. on Jan 1 at 8:56 PM

Numbers more than double last year's X-mas figures, shatter single-day activations record

Google and Apple both had a merry Christmas, as a record 6.8 million of their devices were unwrapped on the holiday.

The statistics, which were released by Flurry Analytics, suggest that an average of 1.5 million of the devices are activated on any day from Dec. 1-24. The number of activations on Christmas accounts for a 353-percent spike in activations.

The numbers account for a 140-percent increase over the previous single-day activation record (on Christmas 2010), which boasted 2.8 million smartphone activations.

Furthermore, Flurry suggests that the number of apps downloaded on Christmas day more than doubled the single-day average for the rest of December.

Meanwhile, Andy Rubin, Google's senior VP of mobile, tweeted that more than 3.7 million Android devices were activated over the holiday weekend, accounting for a little more than half of all activations.

While the ubiquitous iPad boosted Apple's numbers, despite the company not launching a much-hyped iPhone 5, the major increase has been attributed by some experts to more affordability and choice (perhaps even overload) in the market.

"What you have, certainly with the Android, is that there's been a steady push for cheaper smartphones, which do just as much as the top end models," former Mobile magazine editor James Atkinson told the BBC.

Where were the other competitors, such as Microsoft or RIM? Considering that four out of five smartphones sold in the U.S. run either iOS or Android, it's almost safe to say they barely registered.

Sources: BBC, Flurry Analytics