Android in Nov 2011: Gingebread grabs a 50% share

Google updated the Android versions distribution charts and confirmed that the second Gingerbread release (covering versions 2.3.3-2.3.7) extended its lead at the top. Over half of all droids are now running on Gingerbread.

Back in second place, Android 2.2 Froyo continues to lose ground as most of the handsets that used to run it are getting Gingerbread updates. Still, Froyo retains a 35.3% market share, and it will take quite some time before it's completely gone.

Just look at the long outdated Android 1.5 Cupcake, 1.6 Donut and 2.1 Eclair releases. Those account for 0.8%, 1.3% and 9.6% of all droids, respectively, which means that one out of ten Android smartphones is running software that's over two years old (which is like a century in smartphone terms).

The fact that the trio fails to get off the map as quickly as expected is probably partially attributed by the evening out Android growth - the share of devices left with no support and future updates is harder to be disposed of than the software itself.

Finally, the trio of Android Honeycomb distributions continues to make baby steps forward. Android slates now account for 2.4% of all droid devices. We shouldn't expect that share to grow much further though - with Ice Cream Sandwich just around the corner Honeycomb might become the Android version with the shortest lifetime ever.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream sandwich is yet to appear on the map, as the sales of the Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone to run it, have only started a few days ago.

Source | Via