The last week in 2011 was the biggest ever for Android and iOS. According to mobile app analytics company Flurry, over 20 million devices were activated between Christmas and New Year, and 1.2 billion apps were downloaded. That's about 60 percent higher than every week of December before Christmas, and marks the largest number of apps ever downloaded in a single week, passing a billion downloads for the first time.
Christmas Day was the high point of the week for activations, with 6.8 million. Downloads were a bit more spaced out, with only about a fifth of them taking place on the 25th. Flurry doesn't give numbers for iOS and Android individually, but Andy Rubin of Google tweeted the following a few days later:
UPDATE: There were 3.7M Android devices activated on 12/24 and 12/25.
— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) December 28, 2011
From this and previous reports, Fortune's Philip Elmer-Dewitt deduced that about 1.6 million more iOS devices were activated on the 25th than Android ones. However, this doesn't account for Kindle activations, which he says wouldn't be counted in Rubin's tweet. Regardless of who took the top spot, if these numbers are right, Google and Apple have a lot to celebrate now that the holidays are over.
There are 16 Comments. Add yours.
Look at how amazing the Android Market looks next to the App Store. Those dull blues and grays have gotta go.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 12:34 PM EST reply Recommend (12) Flag actions
Err … Amazing … really?? More like messy. Imaging if that is on google search.
Maybe I am the only person that thinks simplicity always win?
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 1:26 PM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
Agreed. It’s way faster and I like +1ing my favorite apps too.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 1:32 PM EST via mobile reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
I genuinely prefer the look of the App Store, it may be because i’m used to it but the Marketplace looks more cluttered (which is odd as it actually has less things to “click”).
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 2:31 PM EST reply Recommend (4) Flag actions
The Android Markets looks messy and unrefined next to the App Store’s elegance, which–like another mentioned–is funny considering the simplicity of Google’s principle product.
No matter which side you’re on, I hope it’s universally agreed that the Android Market is a terrible place from which to start a design argument.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 3:41 PM EST via mobile reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
I wouldn’t think it is universally agreed upon, considering the newest Android market takes a lot of queues from ICS and even the metro ui from wp7.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 3:55 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I think the Android market is a mess.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 5:19 PM EST reply Recommend (1) Flag actions
Yeah for the developers of these apps!
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 12:41 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
For me it has been the reverse, my theme saw a drop in downloads during the holidays and is only starting to pick up now.
https://market.android.com/details?id=theme.gowidget.joenathan.icecreamsandwich&hl=en
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 2:56 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I saw a nice jump in app downloads from the Amazon app store. Lot of people must have gotten a Kindle Fire.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 12:56 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
I wonder how many of those 1.2 billion apps were part of Google’s 10 cent promotions?
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 1:00 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Pretty sure the 10 cent promotion was over before Christmas.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 2:04 PM EST reply Recommend (2) Flag actions
You, sir, are correct.
Hey, The Verge, where’s that edit button? I need to retract my statement.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 2:35 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
And it shouldn’t.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 2:59 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
Before making a statement like that, I would want to get some sort of definitive statement from Apple (and this Flurry company) as to how they count “device activations…”
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 4:18 PM EST via mobile reply Recommend Flag actions
I first heard of Flurry here, so this story didn’t interest me much. Basically I was just commenting on the fact that the Fire’s OS is based on Android, but doesn’t run Android. It runs whatever Amazon has named it. So it shouldn’t be counted as an Android device. I have no clue how many iOS devices were activated or what counts as activated by Flurry, but I wouldn’t trust some company I never heard of before to tell me that either.
Posted on Jan 03, 2012 | 6:34 PM EST reply Recommend Flag actions
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