A new report by Flurry Analytics states that nine of the top ten smartphones activated on Christmas Day 2020 in the United States were iPhones.
Christmas Day in the United States is the single greatest day for new smartphone activations, so it represents a unique opportunity to analyse consumer preferences.
The iPhone 11 was the most activated device on Christmas Day, with activations five percent higher than the trailing average of the period between December 18 and December 24. This is the second consecutive year that the iPhone 11 has taken the top spot, followed by the iPhone XR. The leading premium device was the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which has continued to see "strong and long-lasting demand."
This ranking is in line with normal trends, as Apple's newer and higher-end devices generally only surge around launch due to early adopters. The iPhone 12 has made gains as users gradually replace their existing devices in the months after launch. Some smartphones, such as the iPhone XR, were not more popular than the trailing average for that device, meaning that it was not necessarily a popular gift for Christmas, but rather just a popular smartphone.
The only non-Apple device to reach the top 10 was LG's budget K30 smartphone. Overall, budget devices dominated the top ten, with the iPhone SE and LG K30 seeing 34 percent and 181 percent surges respectively. Flurry believes that the success of past years' models, such as the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR, indicates that American consumers were more price-sensitive this holiday season.
One notable exception from the top ten is the iPhone 12 mini, which has seemingly failed to catch consumers' attention as much as other devices, perhaps due to its discount of only $100 compared to the larger iPhone 12.
This year, smartphone activations were down 23 percent year-on-year. Flurry speculates that this may be due to financial hardships, more limited family gatherings, or more spread out gift-giving this year.
Flurry Analytics uses data from over one million mobile applications, providing insights from two billion mobile devices per month, and it will soon report on the full month of December to give a fuller picture of smartphone activations.
