Apple Dominates Christmas Week With Over Half of New Mobile Device Activations

[StoneJack]

I was hoping Apple would have done this by now, but I don't think that's the direction they want to take. If you need that type of flexibility, you're probably better off with a MacBook Air.

I do have Macbook Air, even 2 including my wife's, both i5. It is excellent computer which at home is used with with a 22 inch Acer monitor. I have experience of working in desktop publishing industry and have some knowledge of Illustrator and Photoshop (mainly technical illustrations), but I would like truly to draw on iPad. However, without the sensitivity levels of Wacom, its not very much useful.

 

[Iconoclysm]

Yeah I guess that's the right terminology now a days. No premium brand manufactures top-of-the-line "small" phones (4" and under) anymore, so I guess we'll have to consider 4.7" as "medium" now a days.

It's funny because Motorola and Samsung both committed to creating a 4" version of their flagships then both released watered down versions when they finally got around to it.

If anyone's going to hear the complaints, it's going to be Apple...but they're usually the last company to listen to complaints directly when it comes to design choices. I guess we'll have to see.

I held a 5S for the first time since I bought my 6 the other day, I was envious of the screen size...

 

[manu chao]

Big issue with tablets is they have a phone number assigned to them, but limit use of the number for texting/phone calls. Totally stupid. I don't want a new iPad until I can take it by itself and receive calls/texts on it the exact way I can with an iPhone.

Well, you can thanks to Continuity in iOS 8. The iPhone will forward calls to it to the Facetime app on the iPad and vice versa (you can call standard phones from the Facetime app on the iPad).

And tablets only have a phone number if they have a cellular radio (ie, the WiFi-only models do not have one).

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Many families exchange gifts on Christmas Eve.

When you have to go to separate houses to celebrate Christmas, one to the husband's family and one to the wife's family, usually one is done on Christmas Eve, the other on Christmas Day.

In a lot of countries, Christmas Eve already is Christmass, at least the second half of the day. Traditionally, there was a church service at midnight on Christmas Eve, as Jesus was reportedly born during the (middle) of the night. To accommodate folks not wanting to stay up until 2 AM, things got moved forward a bit with 10 PM being a common choice. To make things easier for families, even earlier services focussed on children were introduced on late afternoon. Thus from the churches point of view, Christmas Eve certainly is part of Christmas.

 

[cocky jeremy]

.... to say nothing.
A dubious "achievement".

At any rate: in the Samsung vs. Apple game that I usually consider neck & neck, 51% vs. 8% is VERY impressive!

You won't be thinking of it as neck and neck for much longer. Samsung is on the way out. They've dropped off like crazy. Closing retail stores, profits falling 50%, etc. They're done.

 

[rickdollar]

Maybe, this will finally require redoing of iPad line - making it more suitable for content production, such as sensitivity levels, more sophisticated input details such as cursors, a sort of built in keyboards, allowing use of mouse or other device like that, also maybe slots for additional memory - basically usual USB sort of things.

A laptop.

 

[Marx55]

Apple should fix the iOS device shortcomings:

- USB port (storage interchange).
- SD card port (storage interchange).
- Video-out port (for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations).
- Decent file system (see files inside like Mac).
- No sandboxing (open any file with any application).
- No jail. No jailbreaking needed (for obvious reasons).

OR ELSE, JUST MAKE A SMALL AND LIGHT MAC TABLET!

That simple!

 

[bearboy]

This is one of the dumbest comments I have ever read.

First, Cortana is Microsoft not Google. Second, do you really classify a bigger screen as a revolutionary achievement by Samsung?

Hey, Apple tried to patent rectangles.

 

[Jeff Meredith]

Why iPhone

If any one wants to see why you would stick with an iPhone look at this great infographic. Just by maintaining sanity in iPhones, iPhone wins.

http://opensignal.com/reports/fragmentation-2013/

 

[Kariya]

Apple should fix the iOS device shortcomings:

- USB port (storage interchange). Forget it
- SD card port (storage interchange). Forget it
- Video-out port (for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations). You can already mirror iDevice screens
- Decent file system (see files inside like Mac). Forget it
- No sandboxing (open any file with any application). Forget it. Apps will be connected via APIs only.
- No jailbreaking (for obvious reasons).

That simple!

Essentially you want them to make it Android

 

[Kendo]

While this may look like a huge success, it's only short-term.

You mean like how during the iPhone 5's Christmas week was only short-term even though it broke 4S records, and the iPhone 5S' Christmas week was only short-term even though it broke the 5 records, and the iPhone 6's Christmas week was only short-term even though it broke the 5S' records?

In other words, it is short-term even though with each new iPhone model, it SHATTERS the record for the previous iPhone?

 

[KohPhiPhi]

It's funny because Motorola and Samsung both committed to creating a 4" version of their flagships - then both released watered down versions when they finally got around to it.

The thing is that, after having held a 5" phone, downsizing to a 4" screen feels like an actual downgrade so I reckon market demand is probably not that high.

It would have been ideal if Apple kept a 4", 4.7" and 5.5" line up for their iPhone 6 family, but I'm sure they've done their research and they know their numbers based on market demand. At the end of the day, they didnt hesitate to slash their flagship MBP 17" for the same reason.

 

[QuarterSwede]

As for phablet sales, I have a feeling that a good chunk of Plus users will switch back to a smaller device during their next upgrade cycle. Not a huge chunk but the numbers will be a little lower for the Plus. I had settled into a two year cycle but am going to switch from an iPhone 6 Plus to an iPhone 6S next year. I usually make well informed technology purchases but this one was a miss. It's just too big and it's my fault I bought it and tried to stick with it. I think others may feel the same way but time will tell. It's too bad that a 5" iPhone doesn't exist. I also hope that they sell an updated 4" version. I know many people who are holding out hope for that one and getting scared they're going to have to switch to a new platform. What Apple should do is release a 4", 5", and 6" iPhone with reduced top and bottom bezel "chins". They have a patent for Touch ID in the LCD and force touch in the Apple Watch, so they could do a home button on the screen. It's just less obvious of a design choice so they need to be careful. Having three simple sizes would be great. But perhaps I'm only saying that because 5" would be ideal for me. However I do know people who still miss the 3.5" screen size so a reduced bezel 4" would be nearly the same height.

It's certainly possible but as a Plus user I love the size and what it allows me to do that I couldn't easily with a smaller device. I'm someone who doesn't use my MacBook often and can do all my work from my phone. The bigger screen is a godsend for me. Now that I'm used to it I'd be fairly ticked if Apple didn't make another one. I also know others personally who stopped using their iPad minis and use the 6 Plus most of the time.

 

[sodapop1]

Apple should fix the iOS device shortcomings:

- USB port (storage interchange).
- SD card port (storage interchange).
- Video-out port (for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations).
- Decent file system (see files inside like Mac).
- No sandboxing (open any file with any application).
- No jailbreaking (for obvious reasons).

That simple!

Don't forget about a printer port!

What you refer to as shortcomings are yesterday's approaches to technology. Wireless communications is just that simple!

 

[gnasher729]

Who opens their Christmas gifts BEFORE Christmas? Seems like this just represents people who activated their phones on Christmas day. If they even extended it a few days later they might get a lot more activations.

If you bought someone an iPhone as a Christmas present, the buyer may have activated the phone for the receiver of the gift.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

Apple should fix the iOS device shortcomings:

- USB port (storage interchange).
- SD card port (storage interchange).
- Video-out port (for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations).
- Decent file system (see files inside like Mac).
- No sandboxing (open any file with any application).
- No jailbreaking (for obvious reasons).

That simple!

You totally miss the point of a content-consumption orientated device like the iPad or the iPhone 6. It's not meant to be used as a file management or a file input device, but rather as a content output terminal (browsing the net, emails, watch videos, OS-independent apps, etc). And for that purpose, the iPad is pretty much perfect as it is. In fact, that's one of the main reasons as of why the iPad sales have plateaued as of lately: Apple hasn't got much more room for improvement or new features. It's just wonderful as it is for the purpose it was conceived for.

 

[gnasher729]

Apple should fix the iOS device shortcomings:

- USB port (storage interchange).
- SD card port (storage interchange).
- Video-out port (for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations).
- Decent file system (see files inside like Mac).
- No sandboxing (open any file with any application).
- No jailbreaking (for obvious reasons).

That simple!

The iPhone has a video-out port. It's called Apple TV. Many conference rooms have an Apple TV plugged in right into their video projector. Cheap, simple, no cables.

Sandboxing: I don't know where you have been in the last years, but there are hackers everywhere trying to get at your data. Sandboxing means that a malicious app _cannot_ read you private data, even if it somehow made its way into the App Store. I can guarantee that without sandboxing, we would have had more than one _real_ data theft scandal.

File System: The file system is a slight improvement of the MacOS X file system. It is case-sensitve HFS+, with additions to support encryption better than MacOS X does.

 

[Daalseth]

My Bad

I have to admit, I was totally wrong.
I had fiddled with some Samsung and other phablets and found them awkward and uncomfortable. Consequently I've been very critical of the iPhone6+, which admittedly I hadn't been able to get my hands on. I was certain I would get a 6 when I upgrade my phone this coming year (assuming ApplePay comes to Canada). Well this holiday I was talking to my nephew and he said he'd gotten a 6+ and he let me play with it. Talk about a surprise. First I had to double check that it was a 6+ not a 6. It really didn't feel any different in my hand than the iPhone6's that I had played with. Heck, it only felt a bit larger than my wife's 5c. Where the Samsung phablet felt like you were talking into a floor tile, somehow Apple made a phablet feel like a normal phone. I'm simply astonished. I take back all of my previous criticism. It's no surprise that Apple trounced the competition this season. When you do something right, when you do it so completely better, you'll beat the other guys every time.

 

[firewood]

No premium brand manufactures top-of-the-line "small" phones (4" and under) anymore, ...

But a lot of people (with money to spend) wish they did.

 

[Glideslope]

All I will add is the following:

Our eldest son was home during Christmas. Several weeks ago he went from a 5S to a 6+. This was the first visit in 2 years where he did not pick up the iPad Mini. That tells me something is changing. He used to mock the "big" Samsung phones.

I'm still a Moderate Phone Type however.

 

[StoneJack]

A laptop.

Since when you can draw on Mac laptop's screen? You totally miss the point. I need a good drawing and this is possible only with sensitivity levels.

 

[Tubamajuba]

Apple should fix the iOS device shortcomings:

- USB port (storage interchange).
- SD card port (storage interchange).
- Video-out port (for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations).
- Decent file system (see files inside like Mac).
- No sandboxing (open any file with any application).
- No jail. No jailbreaking needed (for obvious reasons).

OR ELSE, JUST MAKE A SMALL AND LIGHT MAC TABLET!

That simple!

Instead of needlessly complicate iOS and make iOS devices more expensive, why not just bring a laptop along if you need all that functionality? The closest you're going to get to any of that is iCloud Drive, and that's not even in the same ballpark as an open file system.

 

[KohPhiPhi]

[Speaking of companies not launching new 4" phones anymore...] a lot of people (with money to spend) wish they did.

I wonder how exactly you define "a lot", because I can assure that if the strong demand was there, it would have been signaled by the myriad of market research studies conducted by multi-billion corporations (Apple, Samsung, Sony, etc). Since they dont launch top-of-the-line 4" phones anymore, it's safe to assume that their market research pointed them in another direction. Ergo... there are NOT "a lot of people" looking to buy a 4" phone anymore.

 

[Mike MA]

Now that the iPhone has made a non-revolutionary change by creating a bigger screen and adding unremarkable additions to its iOS (Samsung thought of this over four? years ago).

Which was Samsungs only and unique selling point. With losing that, you see the result - declining market share, closed down flag ship stores and huge profit drops in this year's quarterly results

 

[manu chao]

Sandboxing: I don't know where you have been in the last years, but there are hackers everywhere trying to get at your data. Sandboxing means that a malicious app _cannot_ read you private data, even if it somehow made its way into the App Store. I can guarantee that without sandboxing, we would have had more than one _real_ data theft scandal.

File System: The file system is a slight improvement of the MacOS X file system. It is case-sensitve HFS+, with additions to support encryption better than MacOS X does.

Sandboxing and file system are actually the same point. And iCloud Drive is starting to provide that.

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I need a good drawing and this is possible only with sensitivity levels.

I am sure there is a genuine market potential but overall, I don't think it would move iPad sales in any noticeable manner. However, if they add a dozen or so of such additional features, things could change (if those changes don't add their own downsides).

 

[Piggie]

Instead of needlessly complicate iOS and make iOS devices more expensive, why not just bring a laptop along if you need all that functionality? The closest you're going to get to any of that is iCloud Drive, and that's not even in the same ballpark as an open file system.

Why bring a laptop and a tablet as they are physically both the same items?

Why duplicate hardware?

If a tablet with an "optional" keyboard does the same job, and can do the same job as a laptop, why have two separate pieces of hardware?