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A number of retailers have noted that the iPad Air was a top seller over the Black Friday shopping weekend, and new data from Localytics indeed shows that to have been the case. Localytics, which tracks the number of new devices showing up through its analytics network of over 20,000 apps and over one billion devices, saw a 51% increase in new iPad Air devices compared to the previous weekend.

localytics_black_friday_growth.jpg

The first-generation iPad mini also performed well, seeing 28% growth compared to the previous weekend, while the iPhone 5c came in third with 26% growth. All three products were available in significant quantities for the Black Friday weekend and in many cases saw steep discounts. Products with tighter supplies and lower discounts, such as the Retina iPad mini and the iPhone 5s, unsurprisingly saw smaller spikes in activations.
According to Localytics' data, a whopping 51% more new iPad Air devices were seen than the previous week. This is due to a combination of factors, including Apple's promotion of giving gift cards with purchases of the iPad Air and iPad Mini (but not iPad Mini 2nd gen) devices. This, combined with a smaller base of iPad Air devices and the novelty of the iPad Air (released on November 1st) resulted in the iPad Air dominating on Black Friday weekend. Apple's older iPad Mini model finished second, and the iPhone 5c took third.
Data from Localytics of course does not include devices purchased over the Black Friday weekend but set aside as future gifts, suggesting that the spike in sales was likely even higher than shown in the data.

While Apple's iPad Air has seen strong sales in part due to its recent introduction and dramatically thinner and lighter design, the device has also benefited from a general surge in popularity for tablets, with 39% of consumer electronics shoppers over the Black Friday weekend indicating that they planned to purchase a tablet. Given the iPad's market-leading position and plentiful supplies of the iPad Air, it is unsurprising that the device saw strong sales over the weekend.

Article Link: iPad Air Receives 50% Boost in Activations Over Black Friday Weekend
 

Popeye206

macrumors 68040
Sep 6, 2007
3,148
836
NE PA USA
Looks like the 5c is doing better than expected? I'm surprised the 5s wasn't up more… but this is also showing growth over previous weeks, so it does not show the relationship of what is strong sellers to begin with - in other words, a 15% growth in 5s sales may be more units than a 26% growth in 5c sales.
 

somethingelsefl

macrumors 6502
Dec 22, 2008
461
204
Tampa, FL
With these stats (and all stats) Apple needs to look at year-over-year sales not just weekend by weekend sales.

The two strongest messages from this data: No iPad Mini w/Retina. (major fumble on Apple's part) and the report detailed that the iPhone 5c is growing in sales with each passing week. (good news).
 

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
The Galaxy S4 had a larger increase than the iPhone 5S but that doesn't mean that it sold more units, so the same may apply to the 5C.
 

ForzaJuve

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2009
75
61
These are really good numbers considering that on top of that there are all those unwilling to face the black friday crowds and who purchased a discounted one online and still haven't received it and those who are putting it under the tree and waiting to open it on Christmas day.
 

NMBob

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2007
1,901
2,413
New Mexico
How do they know these are "new" devices? Are they keeping track of us too, or do they just mean an increase in the number of activations?
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
Looks like people are buying iPads for themselves & lthe Andriod devices as gifts. :D. But these #s seem pointless in that rMini "growth" was likely limited by availability. The cellular models are still constrained.
 

Vtwo

macrumors member
Jan 25, 2012
89
0
With these stats (and all stats) Apple needs to look at year-over-year sales not just weekend by weekend sales.

The two strongest messages from this data: No iPad Mini w/Retina. (major fumble on Apple's part) and the report detailed that the iPhone 5c is growing in sales with each passing week. (good news).

The iPad mini Retina is there as IPad mini 2nd gen which was at 17%. It is a very new product so it was likely selling very well the previous weekend. And there was no major discounts on it since demand was already so high. So the 17% is actually huge. It meant people where still buying it even tho alternatives were probably much cheaper due to discounts.

----------

How do they know these are "new" devices? Are they keeping track of us too, or do they just mean an increase in the number of activations?

Each device has an unique UDID, they can tell which UDIDs are new.
 

polterbyte

macrumors 6502
Sep 24, 2012
353
538
Brazil
The Galaxy S4 had a larger increase than the iPhone 5S but that doesn't mean that it sold more units, so the same may apply to the 5C.

What I believe it means is that the S4 was selling less than the 5s (just as the iPad Mini was selling less than the RiPad Mini) in the previous period, and yielded a larger increase for the period being considered.

The data shows increase in sales, and not overall performance. A gadget that sold one single unit in the previous period, and in the period being considered here sold two units, would have experienced 100% growth over the period. A tremendous increase, but a puny result nonetheless.
 

lilo777

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2009
5,144
0
Looks like people are buying iPads for themselves & lthe Andriod devices as gifts. :D. But these #s seem pointless in that rMini "growth" was likely limited by availability. The cellular models are still constrained.

And I thought that Black Friday is the dat when people start buying H-Mas gifts :confused:
 

mpantone

macrumors 6502
Mar 20, 2009
450
0
There's no regulation requiring one to save Black Friday purchases for Christmas gifting. Some people simply see it as a yearly bargain shopping event.

Note that the weeklong Hannukah holidays started the night before Thanksgiving, and there is a fair amount of gift giving associated with that Jewish celebration.
 

Valinor

macrumors member
Nov 13, 2013
53
3
So how many of these "new" activations are returns due to screen problems.
Cause there are alot of returns, both ipad air and retina mini.
Cause I have alllready returned one, on my way home to open the 2nd one. Lets hope the screen is good. But that means i activated 2 while buying one.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
Very strange report and not meaningful at all.

What they did was compare number of iPad Airs last week and this week, for example, and they see a 50% growth. But the iPad Air is still rather new, so you would expect a single week to add a large percentage. If you took an iPad 2 that has already two years or so of sales, you would expect that a single week sale, no matter how well they sold, wouldn't be a huge percentage increase.

----------

Each device has an unique UDID, they can tell which UDIDs are new.

Apps that ask a device for the UDID are not accepted on the app store anymore. On iOS 7 the call that asks for the UDID will return a value of -1 on every device. (The reason for removing this is privacy concerns - companies creating multiple apps could detect usage patterns, and often stupid use of the UDID, like games where they recorded the high score not of a user, but of a device, so if you sold your phone, the buyer would inherit your high score).
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,101
19,603
I feel bad for all the people who get first-gen iPad Minis for Christmas and either can't upgrade to iOS 8, or will likely see constant crashes and lagginess on iOS 8. iOS 7 is already slow enough on these A5 chips.
 

tmarks11

macrumors 6502a
May 3, 2010
509
32
I call foul. They are not comparing apples to apples...

They are looking for specific data coming from web and apps. I am assuming that they have data provided from apps which are common across the platform, and loading these apps on a new device (as indicated by new UDID) triggers a data point.

That is all very nice. Except that my iPhone has very few apps on it. Almost none at all, as compared to my iPad. No games, zilch. All that is on there is Audible and Kindle, Navigon, and PCalc.

I bet there are other iPhone users like me, who use their phone primarily as a phone, and go unnoticed by the Localytics analysis. So there could be unseen growth in 5s and 5c, and galaxy S IV.

>Data from Localytics of course does not include devices purchased over the Black Friday weekend but set aside as future gifts, suggesting that the spike in sales was likely even higher than shown in the data.

And that little nugget pretty much says that this data is all nonsense. I would expect a significant % of electronics bought on BF to be purchased as Christmas presents. More tablets than phones, IMHO.
 

bbeagle

macrumors 68040
Oct 19, 2010
3,539
2,972
Buffalo, NY
The $100 GC from Target (and similar deals from other retailers) probably convinced a lot of people to buy one.

Right. Get the prices closer, and people realize that Apple is the better deal.

For cheapskates, Android is the only choice.
 

willboston

macrumors newbie
Oct 28, 2013
9
19
iPhone 5c

The iPhone 5C got a big jump, as well (though it’s a 26% gain on possibly low numbers from sales thus far).
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Right. Get the prices closer, and people realize that Apple is the better deal.

For cheapskates, Android is the only choice.

Oh that's harsh. Some people just like Android.

But yeah, the GC Target offered and the obvious crazy people who were willing to risk lives over getting one certainly put the iPad Air pricing in a class that was easier to swallow. I assume that # could be higher if not for the fact that I bet some were purchased as gifts for the holidays.
 

bpcookson

macrumors 6502
Apr 6, 2012
484
90
MA
Looks like the 5c is doing better than expected? I'm surprised the 5s wasn't up more… but this is also showing growth over previous weeks, so it does not show the relationship of what is strong sellers to begin with - in other words, a 15% growth in 5s sales may be more units than a 26% growth in 5c sales.

People buy the 5s for themselves. The 5c is a gift.
 
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