Flurry: Apple wins the 2017 smartphone holiday season

Similar to last year, 44% of new phone and tablet activations in the week leading up to Christmas were Apple devices, according to the Flurry analytics group. 

While Samsung dominates global market share, they fell short as the gift of choice during the holiday season, with only 26% of activated devices in the lead up to Christmas. Samsung’s activation rate is up 5% from the 2016 holiday season, which can likely be attributed to the 2017 introduction of the Galaxy S8 after the late 2016 recall of their malfunctioning Note devices, according to Flurry. 

Despite strong launches of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X — which made up close to a third of all new activations this holiday season — Apple is still seeing significant sales from their older model smartphones. Flurry says this is largely attributed to the affordability of the older models and availability in markets outside of the U.S. The iPhone 7 and 6 take the top two spots with the iPhone X coming in a close third. The prominence of the iPhone 6 is particularly interesting, as Apple only relaunched that model to resellers in select international markets in the spring of 2017. Flurry says it’s apparent that the consumer concern for cost is still significant, as the iPhone 6 is often marketed as the most affordable option in the regions where it is available.