The top nine smartphones activated on Christmas were iPhones

AppleInsider

Among the top 10 smartphone models activated on Christmas Day 2020, nine were Apple's iPhone, with the iPhone 11 holding the crown.

Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider

The iPhone 11 was the most activated device on Christmas, marking the second consecutive year that the model has taken the top spot, data from Flurry Analytics indicates. Activations for the specific model were 5% higher than the seven-day average between Dec. 18 and Dec. 24.

Credit: Flurry Analytics

In second and third place were the iPhone XR and iPhone 12 Pro Max, respectively. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 Pro Max ranked in fourth and fifth place.

Activations for the iPhone 12 Pro Max were 14% higher than the previous seven-day average. The 6.7-inch model was the leading premium device, and Flurry Analytics says its position illustrates the "strong and long-lasted demand" for the model.

The iPhone SE, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 8 rounded out the top nine. The only non-Apple device on the list, the LG K30, came in at number 10. Its activations were up 181% compared to the seven-day average.

According to Flurry Analytics, the success of budget-friendly models like the iPhone SE suggests that U.S. consumers have been much more price-conscious during the 2020 holiday season. However, Apple's cheapest model in the iPhone 12 lineup, the iPhone 12 mini, did not break the top 10.

The analytics firm does note that Apple's highest-end devices tend to surge in popularity at launch before being overtaken by cheaper models. Based on that, the activation percentages compared to the seven-day average would indicate holiday gift demand, rather than model popularity.

It also isn't clear when the devices were bought, just when they were activated. Because of that, activations on Christmas Day could be more indicative of early December shipments than demand closer to the holiday.

Flurry adds that smartphone activations were down 23% year-over-year during the 2020 holiday, versus the 2019 holiday season.

Credit: Flurry Analytics

Christmas Day is the biggest day for smartphone activations in the U.S., giving analytics firms like Flurry an opportunity to analyze demand and consumer preferences. Flurry collects data from its analytics APIs, which are used in more than one million apps.

Rayz2016

So what’s with the big LG climb then?

seanismorris

Rayz2016 said:

So what’s with the big LG climb then?

It appears that the data is US only.  The LG probably had a Christmas promotion.
The data range is also fairly narrow.  Without more information...

The information isn’t actionable or even particularly interesting.

rcfa

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

crowley

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

lkrupp

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

For all the yammering about people wanting a smaller phone that went on here I guess reality says otherwise.

M68000

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

The mini has not been out long,  not much time for consumer interest beyond anybody that watches the tech news all the time like everybody who posts here.   Clearly there is market for small and jumbo phones.  I’m sitting this year out and waiting in hopes that at least one of the 3 good rumors is true 1) return of Touch ID, 2) better battery tech or 3) 120hz screen.  Better battery would make the mini even more desirable. But have not seen the mini in person yet and if it is really good may not wait until next year

dewme

lkrupp said:

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

For all the yammering about people wanting a smaller phone that went on here I guess reality says otherwise.

So you’re saying Apple’s move to biggy sized phones several years ago was not a random act?

avon b7

lkrupp said:

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

For all the yammering about people wanting a smaller phone that went on here I guess reality says otherwise.

You are looking for reality in the wrong place. 

This analysis is for activations on one day and limited to the US. 

The next earnings call might give us some snippets which might tell us what the reality behind the Mini is. 

DaleCannon

Why so many 11 ProMax? Why wouldn't they just do a 12 Pro Max?

entropys

Absolutely love my mini. The perfect size and compliments my iPad Pro. I already had it before Christmas though.
my youngest did get to activate her new iPhone 11. Why an 11, you might wonder? Littlest Miss Entropy wanted it in yellow.

viclauyyc

23% down Y to Y. The US economic, at least for the mass, is not as good as news reporting. Yes stock is skyrocketing, but people is suffering or at least saving for the rainy days.  

lordjohnwhorfin

entropys said:

Absolutely love my mini. The perfect size and compliments my iPad Pro. I already had it before Christmas though.
my youngest did get to activate her new iPhone 11. Why an 11, you might wonder? Littlest Miss Entropy wanted it in yellow.

Really! Does it tell your iPad Pro what a wonderful tablet it is?

anantksundaram

seanismorris said:

Rayz2016 said:

So what’s with the big LG climb then?

It appears that the data is US only.  The LG probably had a Christmas promotion.
The data range is also fairly narrow.  Without more information...

The information isn’t actionable or even particularly interesting.

Yeah, for people who got no Christmas presents...

And yeah, if you bothered to read anything at all, the data are for the US. 

anantksundaram

avon b7 said:

lkrupp said:

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

For all the yammering about people wanting a smaller phone that went on here I guess reality says otherwise.

You are looking for reality in the wrong place. 

This analysis is for activations on one day and limited to the US. 

The next earnings call might give us some snippets which might tell us what the reality behind the Mini is. 

Wow, someone else whose reading skills are amazing...

C'mon, stop stating the obvious. 

crowley

M68000 said:

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

The mini has not been out long,  not much time for consumer interest beyond anybody that watches the tech news all the time like everybody who posts here. 

The 12 mini came out the same day as the 12 max, iirc.

techconc

lkrupp said:

For all the yammering about people wanting a smaller phone that went on here I guess reality says otherwise.

You can't really make that conclusion based on size alone though.  Unfortunately, buying a mini means buying a phone with a lesser camera, less memory, smaller battery, etc.  In short, it's a compromise.  I bought the 12 pro.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with the phone, but after seeing the mini in use from a colleague's phone, I think I may go with the mini next time.  If I could have had the better camera and extra memory in the mini, the purchase wouldn't even be a question. 

firelock

lkrupp said:

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

For all the yammering about people wanting a smaller phone that went on here I guess reality says otherwise.

The iPhone 12 Mini does not have to be a big seller to be a success. The Mini is about giving the Apple user base options. This is particularly important in a tech ecosystem that only has one manufacturer. My daughter, for example, likes the smaller size phone and if she had not already bought an iPhone SE earlier this year the Mini would have certainly been the model she would have looked at. She’ll get one the next time she is ready to upgrade.

GeorgeBMac

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

But, didn't you know:   "Bigger is always better"?   (At least in westernized cultures.)

But you are in good company:   Steve himself said that that size (or close to it) was the right size for a phone and resisted the bigger is better movement through the first 8  iterations of his iPhone.  The iPhone 6+ was first to break into the bigger is better market.

GeorgeBMac

crowley said:

M68000 said:

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

The mini has not been out long,  not much time for consumer interest beyond anybody that watches the tech news all the time like everybody who posts here. 

The 12 mini came out the same day as the 12 max, iirc.

True,  but I think they attract different audiences:  the Pro-Max would tend to attract those really excited about the biggest, bestest, neatest tech marvel -- while the mini would tend to attract the more middle of the road type who see an iPhone as a tool and simply want something easy and convenient to use when it is needed.   The former will tend to be the first to buy and the first to activate.

GeorgeBMac

firelock said:

lkrupp said:

crowley said:

rcfa said:

Funny about the iPhone 12 mini: there are only two devices I would pick out of the current line-up: 12 Pro Max, or 12 mini.
Anything else makes sense only in very special cases, and for posers...

Mini for me too, it's strange to me that it isn't more popular.

For all the yammering about people wanting a smaller phone that went on here I guess reality says otherwise.

The iPhone 12 Mini does not have to be a big seller to be a success. The Mini is about giving the Apple user base options. This is particularly important in a tech ecosystem that only has one manufacturer. My daughter, for example, likes the smaller size phone and if she had not already bought an iPhone SE earlier this year the Mini would have certainly been the model she would have looked at. She’ll get one the next time she is ready to upgrade.

Exactly!

Plus, as the market matures, people need better reasons to upgrade.   iPhone users have been limited to large phones since the iPhone 8.  This was due.   Overdue in fact.