College students told a Chegg survey they wanted
electronic devices for Christmas and most said they preferred an Apple product.
The mobile analytics firm Flurry found they most likely got what they wished for.
Flurry looked at activation statistics from Dec. 19-25
and found more people fired up an iPhone, iPad, or a new iPod than all other
devices combined. Apple accounted for 51% of the new activations, with Samsung
coming in a distant second with about 18% during the six-day stretch.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus probably helped spur the Apple
dominance, according to Flurry, which reported a more than 300% increase in new activations of large-screen smartphones during Christmas week over the
same period in 2013. The iPhone 6 topped the list of new devices activated and
the iPhone 6 Plus was in the top five.
Flurry also found there were 2.5 times as many apps
downloaded on Christmas day than in any December day leading up to the holiday.
Apple iTunes and App Stores, along with the Google Play Store, were slow to
respond during the Christmas-day rush because of the heavy volume.
“If Christmas is a bellwether for the year ahead, we
should expect strong performance from iOS devices and a continued shift to the
once-derided phablet form factor,” wrote Jarah Euston, vice president,
analytics and marketing, at Flurry. “This was the year that time spent on
mobile finally eclipsed TV and the data shows that we are spending this time in
more apps than ever.”
