Holiday Mobile Insights

App Category Insights

With the first Valentine's Day during COVID-19 in the books, we analyzed how Americans used mobile applications this year to celebrate their relationships. In this report, we reveal the top behavioral shifts on Valentine’s Day by analyzing the app categories that saw the largest growth in usage.

Flurry Analytics, owned by Verizon Media, is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing aggregated insights across more than 2 billion mobile devices per month. For this analysis, Flurry measured mobile app usage in the United States using the number of app sessions. We set January 31, the most recent Sunday prior to Valentine’s Day, excluding the Super Bowl, as the baseline and then compared growth against that baseline for each category. Note that we excluded the Social category from our analysis, including dating apps, because of the unusual concentration of usage in just a handful of properties, which Flurry does not measure.

Let’s find out which app categories gained the most usage during Valentine’s Day.

In the chart above, we show a side-by-side comparison of indexed mobile app sessions on Valentine’s Day in blue versus on a typical Sunday in black, for the four app categories that experienced the most growth on Valentine's Day.

The top spot goes to the Photo & Video app category, which grew by 73% on Valentine’s Day compared to a typical Sunday. We speculate that this surge is coming from many photo and video editor apps offering special frames, filters and stickers for Valentine’s Day. Additionally, photo and video apps were likely used more than usual to capture special moments and memories. This 73% jump is impressive for the Photo & Video category, which typically experiences lesser growth during other holiday periods. For instance, this category only increased by 42% last year during Valentine’s Day, and grew by 51% on New Year’s Eve compared to a typical Thursday in December. Growth may have been stronger this year on Valentine’s Day due to social distancing, leaving more quiet time for couples.

The Restaurant app category saw the second largest growth in usage, with a 35% increase. With the reopening of restaurants in the majority of U.S. states, growth in Restaurant app usage outpaced that of Take-out, up by 11%, and Recipe, down by 3%. This means that more people used their phone on Valentine’s Day to find nearby dining locations than to order food or cook a meal at home. It also indicates that on Valentine’s Day, the Restaurant category rebounded from its 36% drop earlier in the pandemic, when most restaurants were still closed.

Lastly, the Music app category experienced a 9% rise in usage on Valentine’s Day, indicating that people played more music than usual on their phone to celebrate and make this day special.

Valentine’s Day this year drove a significant spike in Photo & Video app activity. Restaurant, Take-out, and Music also saw a substantial growth in usage. This unusual uptake in mobile activity, likely amplified by the pandemic, reflects how special this celebration is for many Americans. Stay tuned for more reports covering shifts in mobile app behavior during upcoming holiday events. For the latest reports, subscribe to the Flurry Analytics blog and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Mobile App Messaging Spikes As Holiday Celebrations Go Virtual Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

LisaMoshfegh — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 18:01:36 +0000

Mobile App Messaging Spikes As Holiday Celebrations Go Virtual Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

By Estelle Laziuk, Flurry Analyst

LisaMoshfegh Fri, 01/15/2021 - 10:01

2021-01-15

Tags

App Category Insights

Christmas and New Year celebrations were dim this year. The resurgence of Coronavirus cases along with travel restrictions and new curfews crushed many Americans’ plans to celebrate the holidays in-person with family and friends. According to a survey by NCSolutions, 79% of Americans said they would spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve at home. In this report, we look at the remarkable spike in holiday mobile app messaging as many Americans turned to virtual celebrations to cope with restrictions on holiday gatherings.

Flurry Analytics, owned by Verizon Media, is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing aggregated insights across more than 2 billion mobile devices per month. For this analysis, Flurry measured sessions, meaning the number of times users opened their mobile app, across a sample of Messaging and Photo & Video apps. For both categories, we use the first Sunday of December as a baseline, setting that value to 100. This removes any unrelated gain or drop in sessions that happened earlier in the year and gives a cleaner year-over-year comparison.

Let’s start by looking at holiday mobile app messaging levels during 2020 versus 2019.

In the chart above, we show daily sessions across mobile messaging apps in December, with a focus on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. We compare messaging app sessions this year in blue versus last year in gray.

On Christmas day, usage of messaging apps grew by 25% compared to last year. We think Americans who weren’t able to spend Christmas in-person with relatives turned to their smartphone this year to connect remotely and send greetings.

On New Year’s Eve, fireworks were scarce or virtually live-streamed. Plus, with nighttime curfews in place and mandatory social distancing, more Americans spent New Year’s Eve home than ever before. As a result, more people connected virtually to celebrate the end of the year, driving mobile messaging up by 10% year-over-year. This increase coincides with the record-breaking volume of messages exchanged on WhatsApp during New Year’s Eve. The widely used mobile app experienced its highest number of calls since the app launched ten years ago.

With more pronounced spikes in mobile messaging this holiday season, we next looked at how photo & video activity fared.

In the chart above, we show daily sessions across mobile photo & video apps in December, with a focus on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. We compare photo & video app sessions this year in blue versus last year in gray.

During Christmas Eve, usage of photo & video apps remained similar to prior years, slightly decreasing by 3% compared to last year. By contrast, on New Year’s Eve, photo & video apps experienced a sharper decline, down 9% over last year. With many New Year’s Eve parties and fireworks canceled this year, we think photo & video app usage dropped due to fewer social moments and memories to capture.

COVID-19 changed the way people celebrated Christmas and New Year. Usage of messaging apps spiked as many Americans connected remotely, while usage of photo & video apps dropped given muted celebrations due to COVID-19 restrictions. With the upcoming Saint Patrick’s Day parade canceled, we anticipate more celebrations this year to go virtual and drive pronounced spikes in mobile messaging. For the latest reports, subscribe to the Flurry Analytics blog and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

December Holiday Smartphone Activations Down 20% Year-over-Year

LisaMoshfegh — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 21:22:49 +0000

December Holiday Smartphone Activations Down 20% Year-over-Year

By Lisa Moshfegh, Product Marketing

LisaMoshfegh Wed, 01/06/2021 - 13:22

2021-01-06

Tags

Samsung

December is by far the highest month for new device activations in the United States. Elevated device activations begin around Black Friday, peak on Christmas Day and remain elevated through New Year’s Day. Combined, this forms an extended, appreciable wave of new smartphone activations across the month. In this report, we share how December 2020 smartphone activations fared against the backdrop of slumping retail sales during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights from 2 billion mobile devices per month. Let’s see what happened.

Decreased Demand Continues in December

This holiday season was like no other. A combination of growing unemployment rates, stay-at-home orders and business closures, many people reduced holiday spending and most shifted buying online. On Christmas day, smartphone activations were down 23% year-over-year. Let’s now compare the entire month of December 2020 to that of 2019.

In the chart above, we plot daily smartphone activations across December 2020 in dark blue and December 2019 in light blue. The 2020 curve shows an even, decreased amplitude but follows the general shape of 2019’s curve. This indicates that total demand was down but that consumer purchasing behavior still follows a similar pattern. In both cases, December is elevated, there is a spike on Christmas Day, and stepped-up tail between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Overall, December 2020 smartphone activations are down 20% compared to December 2019. We believe the underlying driver is COVID-19 which has increased unemployment, decreased consumer spending, and pushed the bulk of sales transactions online. Limitations on family gatherings may have also dampened gift giving. While overall smartphone adoption was down, a significant volume of devices were still adopted. Let’s see which device models rose to the top this holiday season.

In the chart above, we list the top 10 most activated smartphones in December 2020 along with the market share captured for each device. Similar to Christmas day, last year’s iPhone 11 took the number one spot with 5.7% of total smartphone activations in December. This year’s most premium device, the iPhone 12 Pro Max was number two and the iPhone 12 was number three. In total, across all of December, Apple iPhone devices took eight of the top ten spots, with LG’s Stylo 6 and Samsung’s Galaxy A11 taking the eighth and tenth spots respectively.

The success of several discounted devices this year is noteworthy, indicating that consumers were notably more price sensitive this holiday season. However, the second place finish by the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which starts at $1,099, is remarkable and proves that Apple loyalists want the most advanced smartphone Apple has to offer.

The Case of the Missing Mini

While three devices from Apple’s 2020 iPhone 12 line ranked among the Top 5 most popular devices, the iPhone 12 mini failed to even crack the Top 10. In fact, we have to go all the way to the 25th spot to find the flagship mini device, despite consumer interest for Apple to make a smaller, pocket-friendly device. We believe that the value and size of the iPhone SE cannibalized interest in the iPhone 12 mini. The iPhone 12 mini starts at $699—just $100 less than the iPhone 12—with a 5.4” screen, while the iPhone SE, which ranked 6th overall, starts at $399 with an even smaller screen.

Let’s next review the share of new devices captured by manufacturer.

In the pie chart above, you’ll see that Apple captured 46% of all smartphones activated in December in the United States, compared to Samsung’s 27% and LG’s 9%. It’s worth noting that Apple’s annual Fall release schedule is optimized to capture interest leading into the holiday season in the United States, arguably Apple’s most important market. While Samsung ranked 2nd in the United States, it remains the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer. And while only one Samsung device cracked this year’s Top 10 list for December, the South Korean OEM has roughly 6X the number of models in the market compared to Apple. In other words, Samsung’s sales volume is spread out across many more models.

As we predicted shortly after Thanksgiving, this year’s holiday smartphone activations are down year-over-year likely due to the pandemic. The holiday season in the U.S. continues to be the highest volume period for new device adoption, and this year was marked by split interest between high end and much more budget-friendly models. Apple continued to dominate the Holiday Season in the U.S., which maps to its device release and promotion schedule. Make sure you follow us on the Flurry Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest analyses on smartphone adoption and user behavior.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

Apple iPhone Devices Sweep 9 of Top 10 Devices on Christmas 2020

LisaMoshfegh — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 17:10:32 +0000

Apple iPhone Devices Sweep 9 of Top 10 Devices on Christmas 2020

By Lisa Moshfegh, Product Marketing

LisaMoshfegh Mon, 12/28/2020 - 09:10

2020-12-28

Tags

Christmas day in the United States is the single greatest day for new smartphone activations. And despite supply chain delays caused by COVID-19, Apple launched its iPhone 12 line—complete with four 5G-enabled devices—just in time for the holidays. While the iPhone 12 series sold well during its initial launch week, November smartphone activations were down in 2020 compared to 2019. In this report, we study how well Christmas Day smartphone activations fared in the United States.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights from 2 billion mobile devices per month. Let’s check out some numbers.

Lagging Holiday Smartphone Activations

This year’s holiday season has come with extraordinary challenges. Normal visits to shopping destinations have been all but curtailed, forcing the majority of sales online. Unemployment is over 7% and 1 in 3 Americans report difficulty covering usual household expenses. And local governments have asked families to greatly limit holiday gatherings. Due to this year’s unusual circumstances and based on slower-than-normal November smartphone activations, we had forecasted that this holiday season would face decreased demand. With this in mind, let’s compare Christmas day this year to last year.

In the chart above, we show the number of smartphones activated on Christmas Day in 2019 on the left, and Christmas Day 2020 on the right. As you can see, activations this year are down 23% year-over-year, likely due to the financial hardships caused by COVID-19. Another possibility is that because Americans were encouraged to stay home and limit family gatherings, smartphone gift giving could be more spread out across the days before and after Christmas. Note that we’ll report on the full month of December shortly after the New Year to get a more complete picture.

Apple Dominates the Top 10

Although Christmas Day smartphone activations were down compared to Christmas in 2019, make no mistake that a lot of Americans still got new smartphones this Christmas. Let’s see which devices were under the tree this year.

In the bar chart above, we list the ten most activated smartphones on Christmas day. The gray dashed line represents the 7 day average number of daily activations leading up to Christmas and the labels denote the percent change between Christmas day and the trailing average. For example, the iPhone 11 was the most activated device on Christmas day, with activations 5% higher versus the 7 day average between December 18 to December 24. In the case of the iPhone XR, the number of activations on Christmas day was relatively equal to the trailing 7 day average, meaning it was not necessarily a popular gift for Christmas, but remains a popular smartphone for Apple customers.

Apple iPhone devices took nine of the top ten spots, with LG’s budget K30 the only other manufacturer to make the list. Last year’s iPhone 11 takes the #1 spot for the second consecutive year, followed by the 2018 iPhone XR. This year’s most premium device, the iPhone 12 Pro Max takes third place. Typically, Apple’s highest-end devices surge at launch as early adopters rush out to buy the most advanced Apple smartphone available. As the masses slowly replace their old devices, the base model—this year the iPhone 12—typically gains in popularity. But as we reported in an earlier post, the iPhone 12 Pro Max had the strongest launch week out of any Apple iPhone device in the past three years, indicating a strong and long-lasting demand for their most premium smartphone.

Budget Devices Surge on Christmas

Apple’s budget device, the iPhone SE, as well as LG’s K30 saw the largest Christmas day surge compared to the prior 7 day average, with 34% and 181% increases, respectively. In addition, the success of past years’ models—notably the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR—may demonstrate that American consumers were more price sensitive this holiday season. Notably absent from this year’s list is the flagship iPhone 12 mini, which brings the features of the iPhone 12, in a smaller device. With a discount of only $100 compared to the iPhone 12, however, the mini version has yet to catch consumers’ attention.

One thing is certain this year—Holiday 2020 is unlike any other. Between economic hardships caused by COVID-19 and limitations on family gatherings, smartphone gifts are down considerably. Additionally, for those consumers who did gift a new smartphone, many opted for past years’ models likely to save money. We’ll publish our final report on the 2020 holiday season shortly after the New Year. Make sure you follow us on the Flurry Blog, Twitter and LinkedIn to get the full report on December smartphone activations. We wish all of you a happy and prosperous New Year. See you in 2021!

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Flurry is a part of Verizon Media.

2020 Smartphone Demand Down Ahead of Christmas

LisaMoshfegh — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 17:53:44 +0000

2020 Smartphone Demand Down Ahead of Christmas

By Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst and Lisa Moshfegh, Flurry Product Marketing

LisaMoshfegh Fri, 12/11/2020 - 09:53

2020-12-11

Tags

Samsung

The holiday season in the U.S. between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a critical sales period for smartphone manufacturers. From 2016 to 2018, the last three years Apple disclosed unit sales, the company sold well over one-third of its iPhones during the last quarter of each year. And while the stakes are just as high this year, the pandemic has strongly impacted the economy. COVID-19 has left many unemployed, reduced retail foot traffic, and forced Americans to simply stay home, leaving retailers scrambling to prepare for a largely digital December. As we head into the make-or-break stretch leading up to Christmas, this report studies early trends from the first weeks of this atypical holiday season.

Flurry Analytics is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights into 2 billion smartphones worldwide per month. Let’s begin by reviewing new device activations in November of this year compared to last year.

In the chart above, we plot new device activations—new smartphones entering the market—by week in the United States for 2019 in light blue, and 2020 in dark blue. Except for the second week of November, smartphone activations so far this year have been below those of 2019. In fact, during the week of Thanksgiving, which typically kicks off the holiday shopping season in the United States, smartphone activations were down 11% year-over-year. If November’s smartphone activations are an indicator for the rest of the holiday season, then we are facing a slower-than-normal holiday season.

In addition to lower year-over-year activations this November, device activations peaked two weeks before Black Friday due to an extended period of holiday retailer deals that started earlier in the month of November. Early deals drove front loading of smartphone purchases, perhaps with some OEMs offering discounts to compete against Apple’s newly premiered iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini which became available two weeks before Black Friday. To get a sense for how this year will unfold, we look back to 2019 when new device activations increased by 42% during the week of Christmas 2019 over the prior week. Below-average activations during November 2020 signals lower smartphone demand this year, likely caused by the pandemic. While activations Christmas week will indeed be the highest of the year, they are unlikely to match 2019 numbers.

Let’s look back at 2019 device activations per OEM during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

In the chart above, we show new device activations during the last two weeks of December in the U.S. among the six leading smartphone manufacturers. The column on the right side of each couplet represents activations during Christmas week, with the prior week shown on the left. Apple, in orange, and Samsung, in green, are the two most popular brands in the U.S. They both experienced week over week growth during that final week of the year: Apple grew 49% compared to the prior week while Samsung grew 23%. Given the recent success of the iPhone 12, we expect Apple to outsell Samsung again this holiday season.

With many consumers still finalizing their holiday shopping, we compiled the top two smartphones across each pricing tier based on new device activations during the week of Black Friday 2020. Let’s see how they stack up.

In the chart above, we list the top smartphone brand within each budget tier, as well as the best selling smartphone models. The height of the silver bar indicates how close or far behind the second place finisher is compared to the first in each category. For example, Samsung has the top two selling smartphones under $200 with the Galaxy A11 and Galaxy A10e. Based on the height of the silver bar, the Galaxy A10e is not that far behind the Galaxy A11. For all other price points, Apple takes the top spot with various iPhone models that span the price spectrum. Samsung’s Galaxy line takes a distant second place in the three highest priced tiers, further demonstrating Apple’s popularity among U.S. consumers as well as Apple's control of the premium end of the market. LG’s Stylo 6 is the only brand other than Apple or Samsung to even make the list, coming in second place in the budget category of $200 - $400, behind the iPhone SE.

Last week, we reported that due to the pandemic, in-store shopping during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was down 41% year-over-year. We suspect this trend will continue throughout the 2020 holiday season as daily cases of the coronavirus continue to rise. Most people are placing orders online, and holiday deals impact when those orders are placed. Given the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic with no prior precedence, retailers are likely scrambling to find favor with consumers, and many consumers are more cautious about what they buy. At Flurry, we will continue monitoring device purchase trends and keep bringing you valuable insights. Please subscribe to the Flurry blog and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay updated on trends in the mobile industry.

iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Samsung and Samsung Galaxy are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. in the United States or other countries.

The Flurry blog (https://www.flurry.com/blog/) is an independent blog and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. or Samsung.

Coronavirus Boosts Black Friday Mobile Shopping and Trounces In-Store Visits

LisaMoshfegh — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 19:07:37 +0000

Coronavirus Boosts Black Friday Mobile Shopping and Trounces In-Store Visits

By Estelle Laziuk, Flurry Analyst

LisaMoshfegh Fri, 12/04/2020 - 11:07

2020-12-04

Tags

App Category Insights

e-Commerce

Black Friday is a crucial event for retailers, kicking off the holiday shopping season. According to a recent Google report, however, the pandemic has reduced U.S. retail foot traffic by 20% since May. Additionally, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that growth in consumer spending has been slowing each month since July. These trends paint a grim outlook for battered retailers who were hoping for a strong Black Friday rebound. In this report, we examine how COVID-19 impacted both mobile and in-store shopping from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, including a focus on Black Friday.

Flurry Analytics, owned by Verizon Media, is used in over 1 million mobile applications, providing insights from 2 billion mobile devices per month. For this analysis, Flurry measured mobile shopping activity using sessions. To estimate the change in visits to U.S. retail stores, we averaged the number of active mobile devices in 5 of the country’s largest downtown shopping districts: New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco.

Let’s look at how the Black Friday shopping period fared this year compared to last year.

In the chart above, we show the percent change in shopping activity during the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday from 2019 to 2020. We display the change in shopping visits to retail stores on the left in red, and the change in mobile shopping on the right in blue. Over the five-day shopping period, in-store shopping tumbled by an average of 41% and mobile shopping grew by an average of 19%. Because shopping has been altered so dramatically in 2020, let’s take a closer look at some of the drivers of this year’s outcome.

Retailers Push Consumers to Shop Digitally

This year, in order to accommodate restrictions due to the pandemic, retailers opted for more online deals rather than driving foot traffic into stores. The majority of retailers encouraged consumers to shop online by reducing in-store-only offers and increasing online deals. Adapting this way, we would have anticipated Cyber Monday, which is already the busiest online shopping day of the year, to grow even more during 2020 relative to other days over the long weekend. However, while Cyber Monday mobile shopping did indeed grow this year, other days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday grew more. In 2020, the days that saw the greatest increase for mobile shopping were Black Friday and the Sunday before Cyber Monday, with 24% and 23% respective growth over last year.

We think this happened, in part, because retailers expanded online discount periods during 2020 due to COVID-19. In an effort to stimulate slumping sales, discounts were offered across all five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, rather than just on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The result of this was a pop in per-day mobile shopping growth rates across each of the five days of this shopping period versus prior years. In a prior Flurry report, our analysis showed greater spikes in mobile shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, not across the entire long weekend as we’re seeing this year. The difference in per-day growth rates this year are all within 10 percentage points of each other, which is unusual. Let’s next look at online sales, which include sales from mobile devices.

Record Breaking Online & Mobile Sales

This year’s Cyber Monday broke sales records. Digital revenue, which combines both online and mobile sales, reached $10.8 billion, according to a report by Adobe. That’s a 20% jump over the $9 billion spent digitally on Black Friday last year. While mobile shopping itself didn’t deliver a record growth rate on Cyber Monday, our data reveals that mobile shopping session growth outpaced that of online traffic, with mobile growing by 17% and online by 13% compared to last year. This suggests that among online shopping channels, on-the-go mobile shopping experienced a particularly high growth this year on Cyber Monday. Let’s next look at how Black Friday shopping shifted this year in retail stores.

The Collapse of In-Store Shopping

COVID-19 brought a considerably different Black Friday in-store shopping experience to consumers, from mask requirements to the limited number of shoppers allowed inside stores. With maximum customer capacity restrictions, this year’s wait times in stores were lengthier. Combined with an increased risk of exposure to the virus, these restrictions discouraged retail store trips, which plummeted by 41% during Black Friday week compared to last year. On Black Friday, the day that typically drives the most consumers to shop for limited in-stores deals, in-store visits declined by 40% compared to last year, as many in-store deals shifted online.

Coronavirus pushed this year’s Black Friday shopping online, including on mobile, where shopping grew by 19%. While the pandemic boosted online shopping this year, it also busted in-store visits by 41%. With Coronavirus cases still on the rise, we anticipate a continued concentration in digital shopping, with continued growth specifically on mobile. We’ll continue to update you on mobile shopping and other mobile app and device trends. For the latest reports, subscribe to the Flurry Analytics blog and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn

Smartphone Adoption Ramps in India as Diwali Becomes Top Shopping Holiday

LisaMoshfegh — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 01:01:38 +0000

Smartphone Adoption Ramps in India as Diwali Becomes Top Shopping Holiday

By Aman Bansal, Flurry Analyst

LisaMoshfegh Wed, 11/25/2020 - 17:01

2020-11-25

Tags

Samsung