Christmas Day saw 17 million iOS and Android devices activated

Plenty of smartphones and tablets were found under the tree this past Tuesday as analytics firm Flurry estimates that 17.4 million iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas Day. That is a 330% increase from the average of the twenty days from December 1-20 which saw a daily total of 4 million iOS and Android devices get hooked up.

Tablets had an amazing day. From December 1-20, only 2 out of each 10 Android and iOS device activated was a tablet. On December 25th, slightly more than 5 out of 10 of the iOS and Android devices activated was a slate. The actual marketshare for tablets on Christmas Day was 51%. Tablet sales were led by the Apple iPad, the Apple iPad mini and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD.

Most people spent Christmas Day downloading apps on their new phone or tablet. Flurry's stats show that the average number of apps downloaded on iOS and Android devices from December 1-20 was 155 million per day. On December 25th, that number surged to 328 million for an increase of 112%. And unlike the average from December 1-20, when app downloads peak between 7-10pm, downloading on Christmas started as early as 9am and remained fairly steady all day until worn out from a busy day of using their new iOS or Android device, people started going to bed.

source: Flurry via TUAW