Apple sweeps device sales during key U.S. holiday week

Who had the most mobile device activations between Christmas and New Years? Apple or Samsung? I’ll give you a clue: it wasn’t the latter.

Verizon Media’s Flurry Analytics analyzed device activations from Dec. 25 – 31 and found:

° Apple earned between 39-47% of new device activations across December, and their share grew as the month progressed, with an average share of 43% for the month. Meanwhile, Samsung earned 24-28% across December, delivering a total December share of 26.5%.

° Apple dominated on Christmas. On Christmas Day, nine of the top-10 device models activated came from Apple, with the iPhone 11 taking the top spot. The only Samsung device to break into the top-10 was the budget-oriented Galaxy A10e. However, between Christmas and New Years, the Galaxy A10e fell off the list to #11, with Xiaomi’s Mi 4 LTE moving into the #10 spot.

° In the last week of 2019, Apple captured market share at a rate of two points higher than its pre-Christmas levels, while Samsung dropped by three points.

Apple’s iPhone 11—this year’s lowest end model of the 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max trifecta—continues to dominate the smartphone landscape, representing 15.4% of all new Apple devices activated and 6.16% of all smartphones activated between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. 

Apple’s 2018 iPhone XR, which was the dominant device leading up to Christmas Day in 2019, comes in at a close second with 13.2% of all Apple devices and 5.27% of all smartphones. In fact, Apple’s older generation devices continue getting traction, likely appealing to more price sensitive customers. iPhones 6, 7 and 8 all cracked the Top 10 list, according to Flurry Analytics.