Many iPhone App Downloads Jumped 2-3X On Christmas

Mg Siegler

MG Siegler is a general partner at Google Ventures and a columnist for TechCrunch, where he has been writing since 2009. Previously, MG was a general partner at CrunchFund. And before TechCrunch, MG covered various technology beats for VentureBeat. Originally from Ohio, MG attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. He’s previously lived in Los Angeles where he worked... → Learn More

Monday, December 27th, 2010

It’s beginning to look like Apple may have had a very, very merry Christmas. Not that it should surprise anyone given how many of their products were on year-end “best-of” lists. But some data that has started to come in over the past few days points to Apple’s Christmas surge once again being led by the mainstays: the iPhone and iPod touch (and probably the iPad as well).

Since yesterday, developers have been tweeting and messaging about huge spikes in downloads of their apps on Christmas. How huge? Just look at the chart in this post. We’re talking two to three times normal numbers. That particular graph came thanks to data from MixPanel, a Y Combinator startup that specializes in iOS analytics. We’ve since confirmed with the company that on the apps they track, they’re seeing the same “2-3x in app download/sales across the board.”

This data point coincides with others, such as Tap Tap Revenge 4, a game for the iPhone/iPod touch, which is seeing download traffic 2x what it was last Christmas, according to Business Insider. Meanwhile, the site All Facebook looked at the data for Facebook’s iPhone app and also found a massive surge on Christmas. In fact, the app added some 1.6 million users in just the three days around Christmas. By comparison, Facebook for Android added some 900,000 users in the same span.

So what does all of this mean? Clearly that a lot of people got new iOS devices for the holidays and went on massive downloading binges. Apple will officially announce their holiday earnings on January 18. Expect a “boom” or two.

Company: Mixpanel
Website: mixpanel.com
Launch Date: 2009
Funding: $12M

Mixpanel is the most advanced analytics platform for mobile & web. It helps businesses grow by helping them understand how their users behave and use their products by tracking actions people take rather than page views. Mixpanel’s mission is to help the world learn from its data.

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Product: iPhone
Website: apple.com
Company Apple

Apple’s iPhone was introduced at MacWorld in January 2007 and officially went on sale June 29, 2007, selling 146,000 units within the first weekend of launch. The phone has been hailed as revolutionary with its bundle of advanced mobile web browsing, music and video playback, and touch screen controls. The iPhone is exclusively carried on the networks of both AT&T and Verizon in the U.S. An iPhone can function as a video camera (video recording was not a standard feature...

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