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Web traffic patterns suggest Apple’s iPad was a dud this holiday season

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:41PM EST
BGR

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Countless analysts predicted Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet would be a big seller this holiday season, and new data suggests that the slate may have been the most gifted tablet this past Christmas. Advertising network Chitika saw traffic across its network from the Kindle Fire grow roughly 20% each day leading up to Christmas, and traffic then exploded by more than 120% between December 24th and 25th. Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook saw the second biggest spike on Christmas Day, up  just over 50% thanks to deep discounts during the holiday shopping season, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab line of tablets saw traffic jump about 15% on the 25th. Traffic from Apple’s iPad didn’t increase at all on Christmas Day, suggesting that rival tablets may have had an even bigger impact on holiday iPad sales than previously predicted. Read on for more.

“Though the iPad’s lead over the other tablets is strong, it was not the tablet with the most impressive spike in traffic after the wrapping paper had all come off Christmas morning,” Chitika’s Haze Jayachandran wrote in a post on the company’s blog. “The PlayBook’s 50% jump in traffic Christmas day might just be the thing to help with RIM’s recent struggles. The real victor in the season’s tablet wars, though, has to be the Kindle Fire and its 122% traffic spike from the 24th to the 25th. If more than doubling your usage overnight doesn’t say Christmas Spirit, we don’t know what does.”

Traffic across Chitika’s network grew between 20% and 30% for each of the four tablet lines between Christmas Day and December 26th, and then traffic from the Galaxy Tab, iPad and Kindle Fire tablets declined on the 27th as people went back to work. BlackBerry PlayBook traffic continued to grow about 15% on December 27th, however, suggesting the slate may have been the most gifted tablet among younger users who were off from school or college during the week leading up to New Year’s Eve.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.