Flurry evaluated download growth driven by Christmas across the leading Apple and Android devices, as well as their respective app stores, pulling a sample that represents approximately 10% of all download volume in the App Store and Android Market.
iPod Touch Downloads Explode on Christmas Day, Surpassing iPhone for the First Time
Flurry revealed the significance of iPod Touch to Apple’s future plans in its November Pulse report. Out of the estimated 58 million iPhone and iPod Touch devices in the market at the time, Flurry estimated roughly 40% of those, or 24 million, were iPod Touch devices. It appears that an influx of new iPod Touch devices has flooded the market over Christmas, and that users of the handset, primarily pre-teen and teen audiences, are voracious downloaders. Here are some stats:
The chart below sets iPhone download volume at “1” for iPhone on Christmas day to allow relative comparisons. All other dates for iPhone and iPod Touch are normalized against this figure. Compared to iPhone app download volumes on Christmas, the iPod Touch exceeded iPhone app downloads by 172%. iPod Touch download volumes increased by nearly 1,000% on Christmas day (which fell on a Friday) compared to the average of all previous Fridays in December. On December 26, iPod Touch download volumes continued to exceed that of iPhone by 104%.
December Shatters App Store Download Records
A month ago, November had set previous download volume records, growing by 15% over October. Toward the end of November, Flurry forecasted that December download volumes in the App Store would exceed November by more than 20%. With the figures in, Flurry underestimated growth by more than half.
Droid Leads Android Downloads for Christmas, but Android Market Trailing App Store
Android devices also showed growth during the Holiday season, led by the Motorola Droid.