[jamesaguilar]

I wonder why they don't just use a word that people understand.

[arron61]

They don't sell the phones so they don't know how many are sold. The only count they have is all the activations that are coming from every new phone.

I don't think there can be a better measurement for them than this.

[vetinari]

Because if the used the word sold, the Internets would be full of people claiming, that the products were just hauled from factories to sellers warehouses, where they are sitting and not being bought by anyone.

[nextparadigms]

If it's a new device that is activated by the carrier, then it's a new "sold" device. So the numbers signify 700,000 Android devices sold per day.