Leave it to the nerds to go huge for the holidays.
App downloads spiked during the last week of 2011, peaking at 1.2 billion combined iOS and Android app downloads, according to mobile research firm Flurry Analytics. Moreover, Flurry says, it was the biggest week for app downloads in Android and iOS history.
Those hungriest for apps live stateside -- U.S. users were responsible for some 500 million downloads, or about 40 percent of the total downloading fest. China came in a distant second with 99 million downloads.
Flurry's report comes on the heels of a record high for Android and iPhone activations on Christmas Day, with nearly 7 million new tablets and smartphones activated on that day alone. Flurry estimates that between Dec. 25 through the end of the year, more than 20 million devices were activated across the globe.
We can only assume consumers' appetites for apps will grow in 2012. Upwards of 60 percent of U.S. consumers ages 18 to 24 now own a smartphone, according to Nielsen research data. And among 25- to 34-year-olds, smartphone ownership is still high at over 50 percent.
While hitting more than a billion app downloads in a single week is significant, Flurry estimates this downloading volume will become commonplace as 2012 progresses. Yes, app stores are burgeoning with titles, but Flurry still considers these digital marketplaces relatively immature in their development. As more and more developers flock to create apps, consumer options will increase, and app downloads will jump in turn.
And, of course, next week Las Vegas will host the annual Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, where all of tech's biggest players announce their premier devices for the coming year. It's expected that Microsoft will give a rundown on its Windows 8 tablet progress, Nokia will make waves in the Windows Phone arena, and sundry manufacturers will introduce new Android-based devices.
