China: The World’s Leader in iOS and Android Activations

Last week, we reported that, according to IDC, China was poised to oust the U.S. as the world’s top smartphone market as early as this year. Today comes new data suggesting that the country is already outpacing the U.S. on another associated metric: Android and iOS device activations.

According to mobile analytics outfit Flurry, combined iOS and Android activations in China surpassed those in the U.S. some time in February. And by the end of March, the world’s most populous country will account for 24 percent of activations to the U.S.’s 21 percent.

Hardly surprising. China is the world’s most populous country, and it’s the first with one billion mobile phone subscribers. But worth noting, as China is increasibly becoming a point of focus for companies like Apple.

Remarking on sales of the iPhone 4S in Greater China during a company earnings call earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said demand for the device there has been staggering. “We felt we were betting bold, as I think many of you would have thought if you would have known what we were doing,” Cook said of the 4S rollout plan for the country. “But as it turns out, we didn’t bet high enough.”