Apple App Store Data Shows Meta Stole Christmas, Amazon Enjoys Strong Holiday Shopping Trends

The Apple Inc AAPL iOS App Store can provide an early read on holiday shopping trends. Here's a look at the biggest tech winners this year based on App Store data from Christmas.

What To Know: Meta Platforms Inc META appears to have virtually stolen Christmas this year. 

The Meta Quest mobile app surged to the top of the "Top Free Apps" section of the Apple App Store on Christmas.

It remains in the top spot at the time of writing. 

"That means likely a lot of people activated new Quest 3 headsets," CNBC technology correspondent Steve Kovach said Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk On The Street."

Meta is currently leading the way in the mixed reality space, but competition is expected to ramp up in 2024. Apple's Vision Pro is now expected to begin hitting shelves in late January or early February and the iPhone maker could ship about 500,000 units in 2024, according to analyst estimates.

Gaming appears to have been a theme this holiday season. Microsoft Corp's MSFT Xbox app was ranked seventh in the App Store on Christmas and Sony Group Corp's SONY PlayStation app was ranked 11th. The big winner after Meta, however, appears to be Amazon.com Inc AMZN. 

Amazon's Alexa app was ranked second in the App Store on Christmas day and was listed fourth at the time of writing. 

"That means lots of Echoes under Christmas trees," Kovach said. 

Amazon said last month that this year's Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales period marked its "biggest ever" holiday shopping event and noted that the company saw "record-breaking" sales from Nov. 17 through Cyber Monday. 

Check This Out: Retailers Brace Themselves For Post-Holiday Returns Surge: 'We're Heading For A Trillion-Dollar Problem Here'

META, AMZN Price Action: At publication time, Meta shares were up 0.63% at $355.60 and Amazon shares were up 0.1% at $153.58, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Bruno from Pixabay.