’Tis the Season to Be Upgrading: Smartphones Ring in the Holidays

Each year, the major smartphone manufacturers make updates across their product lines to introduce new technologies, requested features or to spark an upgrade cycle. Over time, these devices have come closer in feature parity but there are meaningful differences - especially when comparing Apple to Android - so in this Plume IQ we’re taking a look at upgrade trends in anticipation of the giving season.

We looked at three popular smartphones — Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and Google Pixel — to compare their uptake across their new models released this year compared to last year. Starting with the iPhone, we noted that this year’s model has seen much more consistent growth than in the last. The 2024 device, the iPhone 16, saw weekly gains of about 10% through the first weeks. The iPhone 15, released in 2023, saw much more inconsistent additions across the first few weeks with some weeks resulting in rises and drops when comparing week over week data.

Both the Samsung Galaxy 23 and 24, were released early in the calendar year and resulted in a burst of new devices added during the first week they were available before evening out to a more modest growth. Though the Galaxy 24 saw explosive growth over this year’s Black Friday — 114% more the week of Thanksgiving compared to the previous week.

The high growth over Black Friday marks the beginning of an intense period over the holiday season when new devices are added to Plume networks - with the peak happening over the Christmas holiday break.

Plume networks in 2023 saw 61% more new iPhone 15 models during the week of Christmas 2023 than the previous week. Across the two weeks that included Christmas Eve and Day (12/18/23 - 12/24/23, 12/25 - 12/31/23), the Pixel 8 saw subsequent gains of 53% and 33% week-over-week. The Samsung Galaxy 23 saw 34% and 22% over the same two weeks in 2023. It’s safe to say we anticipate similar jumps in new devices from these brands and will report back in the new year. Happy holidays from all of us at Plume.

Plume at CES

The Plume team will be at CES from January 7-10 to discuss how data insights and automation can increase subscriber satisfaction, built on a world leading WiFi connectivity foundation.

Schedule a meeting to learn how Plume works with CSPs to enable better network services and subscriber experience.

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Award

Plume is delighted to have won the WiFi NOW Award for Best In-Home Wi-Fi product for the third year in a row.
See the full list of winners here.

Learn more about Plume for your home here.

News Roundup

Using recent Plume IQ data on cybersecurity Jane King reports from the Nasdaq MarketSite on the increase in threats since last year. Overall, the number of threats stopped by Plume is up 48%, including a 103% increase in botnets and a 78% increase in malware.

Hear more from Jane King

On Giving Tuesday, #PlumeStrong announced that €1.047.000 was raised during 2024 through its fundraising efforts.Funds raised benefit partners including Street Child and the Ron Brown Scholar Program.

Read more from Patch

#PlumeStrong

#PlumeStrong is thrilled to share that €1.047.000 was raised during 2024, exceeding our fundraising goals. The total is a combination of charitable programs and events held throughout the year including the #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge (#PSCC24), the #PlumeStrong Gala Philanthropic Dinner, and #PlumeStrong Golf Tournament.

The #PlumeStrong Cycling Challenge raised over €630,000 surpassing the initiative’s original target of €550,000. #PlumeStrong and its charity partner Street Child announced that the money raised during the #PSCC24 will be used to benefit Street Child’s work in Sierra Leone, developing 20 rural secondary schools, providing quality education to over 2000 children annually, teacher training, and the establishment of a community agriculture project to help sustain the educational program.

The #PlumeStrong Gala Philanthropic Dinner and Golf Tournament raised an additional €438.000. These events were held in partnership with the Ron Brown Scholar Program for the establishment of the Ron Brown Venture Lab (RBVL), an initiative designed to provide the essential resources that Ron Brown Scholars, Captains, and Alumni need to launch and grow their entrepreneurial ventures. The Ron Brown Venture Lab will create a robust support network to address the significant challenges Black founders often face in securing the resources needed to bring their business ideas to life. The initiative aims to ignite a new generation of socially-minded innovators to drive transformative change in their communities and beyond.

#PlumeStrong is extremely grateful for all of our partners, supporters, ambassadors and contributors that helped to achieve these remarkable goals in 2024. Thank you from everyone at Plume.