iPhone XR sees biggest Christmas adoption rate yet, but iPads did even better

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“We examined our vast mobile data over Christmas this year, looking specifically at the volume of new devices that entered the market. As a reminder, this data only consists of devices that users activated for the first time and began using apps in,” Thomas Rodde reports for Localytics. “We discovered that Christmas shoppers were heavily focused on obtaining Apple products this year: iPads have become a mainstay of the holiday season and the iPhone XR’s momentum shows no sign of decreasing.”

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“In 2016 we found that iPads dominated the leaderboards for new device activations over the Christmas holiday, while in 2017 the Google Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, and the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X took the top five,” Rodde reports. “In 2018, iPads returned to the top of the list as they nearly swept the top five, proving that their stellar performance years ago was not just a flash in the pan.”

“We found that the iPhone XR saw more new device activations than any other device over Black Friday weekend compared to the average of previous weekends. This narrative partially played out in our Christmas data as well, confirming the demand for iPhones at a lower price point,” Rodde reports. “Though an 88% increase in new devices is nothing to shake a stick at, the XR still failed to beat the newest iPad and iPad pros and the iPad Mini. The new sixth generation iPad clearly saw the greatest increase in activation volume at 219%, while the 11 inch iPad Pro came in at second with a 125% increase versus the prior weeks in December.”

“Apple’s market strategy for the XR seems to be paying off: A study from Consumer Intelligence and Research Partners found that significantly more consumers switched from an Android device to an iPhone within 30 days of the XR’s launch than those who switched to the iPhone X from an Android device in its first month,” Rodde reports. “[iPhone XR saw] the greatest lift in activations of any new Apple [iPhone] in the past three years. The number of new XRs activated by consumers grew by 88% over Christmas, while XS activations grew by 49% and XS Max activations by 36%. It’s also important to remember that the XS and XS Max have been in the market since September, while the XR came out in late October.”