The truck of the mobile ecosystem could be making a minor comeback, thanks to Apple.
A report by mobile engagement platform company Localytics said that the top five device activations during the Christmas weekend were all iPad models. The iPad Mini 4 recorded a 123% increase in activations from the previous three weekends in December, which Localytics attributed to significant discounts by big box retailers like Walmart and Best Buy.
The latest versions of Apple’s larger tablets—the iPad Pro 9.7 and iPad Pro 12.9—were also popular at Christmas, with increased activation rates of 99% and 47%, respectively. At the same time, retailers heavily discounted older Apple devices such as the iPad Mini 2 and iPad 2 during the holiday shopping season. Both of these devices saw an increase in activation over the Christmas weekend, Localytics said.
An increase in activation rates for Apple’s tablets is good news for a market that remains in a downward spiral. A recent report by IDC said that global tablet shipments would be around 182.3 million units in 2016—a year-on-year decline of 12%.
It should be noted that new activations do not represent sales of a device, rather the number of devices that people turn on and start using or opening apps.
With that in mind, the newest versions of the iPhone had a quiet Christmas.
Both the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus had a lower year-on-year activation rate than the previous models. The iPhone 7 recorded a device activation rate of 25% in 2016, compared to the 52% lift achieved by the iPhone 6S in 2015. Activation rates for the iPhone 7 Plus were also low; an 8% rate as opposed to the 21% activation rate recorded by the iPhone 6S Plus in 2015.
Apple Remains The Dominant Brand
Despite a low device activation rate for the newer iPhone models, Apple has dominated Christmas.
A report by Yahoo-owned analytics company Flurry said that 44% of all devices—smartphones and tablets—activated between December 19 and December 25 were Apple products, which was over double the amount attributed to Samsung. According to Flurry, tablets only accounted for 17% of all activated devices in the week leading up to Christmas, with phablets recording a 37% activation rate.
Although the Localytics data focused mainly on Apple products, it did note that the Google Pixel had a muted Christmas in terms of device activations. Google’s entry into the crowded smartphone market had an excellent Thanksgiving but recorded an increase of 13% in new activations from December 24th to December 26th.
“While the Google Pixel has a long way to go before it rivals the numbers shown by the Apple or Samsung Models, it has shown the ability to grab the attention of a notable amount of users,” Localytics said. “While Apple will likely continue to demolish Google in both units sold and revenue, the first Google phone seems to be off to decent start.”
[SOURCE:-ARC]