If you save the state of the application in a bundle (typically non-persistent, dynamic data in onSaveInstanceState), it can be passed back to onCreate if the activity needs to be recreated (e.g., orientation change). If the orientation changes(i.e rotating your device from landscape mode to portrait and vice versa), the activity is recreated and onCreate() method is called again, so that you don't lose this prior information. If no data was supplied, savedInstanceState is null.
For further information http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/runtime-changes.html