Another Record for Christmas Day App Downloads

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Christmas Day 2013 saw a record number of app downloads, on the heels of the many smartphones and tablets given as presents this year. Overall, app downloads grew by 11% from Christmas Day 2012, according to Flurry, an analytics and advertising firm.

The firm found that games and social apps were downloaded on December 25 at twice the rate they were on an average day in December. Other categories that saw the largest surge in Christmas downloads included media (such as photo, video and music apps) and lifestyle (sports, books, magazines, entertainment).

While December 25 has been a bonanza for software developers the past couple of years, Flurry also said in its report Monday:

The size of the Christmas download spike is diminishing over time as the app market matures and globalizes. … Fewer people are coming online with mobile for the very first time. Consumers who are on second, third or fourth devices have apps that they like and trust, and while they still download new apps, there isn’t much more impetus to do so on Christmas than any other day when they have a little downtime.

On average there was a 25% year-on-year increase in app downloads in December, though that was far less than the 97% jump in December of last year. Flurry tracks more than 400,000 apps globally.

Going forward, Flurry sees the biggest growth in mobile coming from countries where Christmas is a less significant holiday or not celebrated at all. New device activations and app downloads will occur at different times of the year in such places.

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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