Apple iPhones Dominate Christmas 2019 Activations; Occupy 9 In 10 Spots

Both new and old iPhone models dominated the list of top 10 mobile activations in the US during last year’s Christmas, according to a new report. Out of 10 devices, nine iPhone models ranging between iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 11 occupy the spots. Chinese smartphone Xiaomi Mi 4 LTE was a surprise contender at the tenth spot.

The new report comes from Flurry Analytics, a popular mobile analytics company, which recently shared the December analytics report for mobile device activations. On top of the list is the latest current generation flagship smartphone from Apple, the iPhone 11. The only Android phone on the list is on the tenth spot, and it is not a Samsung or Huawei but a Xiaomi device.

Apple’s fiercest rival Samsung was not in the top 10 list with Samsung Galaxy A10e managing to land on the eleventh spot. Interestingly, the pre-Christmas period was also ruled by Apple iPhones with 40.6 percent activations. Samsung has 26.3 percent activations, but its share plummeted between Christmas day and before the end of 2019 to 23.5 percent.

“Inspecting the chart, we notice a few key trends. First, Apple is earning between 39% - 47% of new device activations across December, and their share climbs as the month progresses, explains Flurry Analytics. This averages out to 43% for the month, which holds Apple around the market share rate we calculated just before the holiday season, adds the site. Meanwhile, Samsung earned between 24% - 28% across December, delivering a total December share of 26.5%.

“This is lower than the approximately 30% US market share we calculated for Samsung ahead of the holidays, reveals the analytics firm. Another noteworthy detail in the report is the presence of both the older generation and current generation iPhone models in the top 10 list. iPhone models such as iPhone XR, iPhone 7, and iPhone 8 are more than a year old while iPhone 6 Plus is almost five years old, but they are still on the top 10 list besting other newer Android smartphones.

iPhone XR is still on top of the list of the activation charts thanks to its impressive set of features and a low base price of $599. The popularity of Apple iPhone 11 could also be attributed to the same reasons considering that it is the successor of the iPhone XR in the lineup of the Cupertino company. It appears that Apple has discovered the right price point for its entry-level iPhone model based on the success of the iPhone 11. But, the company could still perform better by reducing the prices of its Pro-level iPhones since it would put the company within reach of more consumers.