Most consumer electronics companies see their revenue spike during the holiday season, but Fitbit sold so many of its fitness trackers this Christmas that the accompanying Fitbit app was the most-popular app on the App Store this week. Beating out the likes of Instagram and YouTube, the Fitbit app took the top spot across all categories on Christmas Eve, after topping the charts for the health and fitness category every day this month.
It appears that a whole lot of people received Fitbit tracking devices for Christmas this year. The wearable maker shot to the top of Apple’s free app chart in the United States as of the afternoon of Dec. 25. While downloads don’t give a clear picture of Fitbit’s sales, the surge suggests that many people are setting up new devices. The fourth quarter has historically been Fitbit’s biggest in terms of sales. It sold 5.28 million trackers in the fourth quarter last year, more than the first three quarters of 2014 combined. During last year’s holiday season, Fitbit saw a nearly 250% rise in revenue over 2013’s fourth quarter. Every day into December so far, Fitbit has been the most downloaded health and fitness iOS app, according to data from mobile analytics firm App Annie. But today marks the first time it topped Apple’s rankings of free iOS apps, jumping 20 spots from Christmas Eve. The swell in Fitbit’s popularity today is a bright spot in an otherwise dour quarter for the company. Though it reported a strong third quarter, its stock has lost almost all its gains as the year comes to the close, hurt largely by a recent secondary offering.