Nearly two billion apps downloaded over Christmas

A record-breaking number of apps were downloaded worldwide in the final week of 2012, according to figures by an independent analyst.

Flurry estimates that 328 million apps were downloaded on Christmas day. The record-breaking figure came as 17.4 million new devices were activated that same day.

For the rest of the week, Flurry estimates that over 50 million iOS and Android devices were activated, and 1.76 billion apps were downloaded.

The US was responsible for the majority with 604 million downloads. China, which does not celebrate the Christian holiday, came second (183 million), and the UK third (132 million).

Western nations with populations that celebrate Christmas were higher up than non-Christian countries. By comparison, Japan and South Korean, which have the fourth and fifth largest smartphone install bases according to Flurry’s research, ranked 14th and tenth, respectively, for downloads over the record week.

Flurry did not categorise what kinds of apps users downloaded.

However, figures released this week by the ERA showed that digital entertainment sales exceed £1bn for the first in the UK. Games accounted for just over half of all digital entertainment sales in the UK in 2012.