At the beginning of every month, Google releases the latest Android distribution numbers showing us the most and least popular versions. These numbers keep changing every months as more devices come into the market and some of the existing ones get updated. Unlike iOS, the latest Android versions do not enjoy a bigger market share since manufacturers are not always willing to update all their existing devices at the same time. This means some users, especially those with entry level devices, are stuck with older Android versions.
For July, Google is reporting that Android Marshmallow is installed in 13.3% of all devices. This is still a small figure considering that it has been around for over 8 months. Even though the figure is still small, it is slightly higher from last month when it had a market share of 10.1%, a 3% rise in just one month is pretty good for Android. With a 13.3% market share, Marshmallow is not the most popular Android version but at least it is growing.
Android Lollipop is the most popular version out there with a market share of 35.1%, this is exactly where it was last month. Android KitKat follows closely with a market share of 30.1%, quite a huge market share considering that it was released back in 2013. Very few manufacturers update their devices running on KitKat directly to Marshmallow so this number will not drop significantly unless the customers decide to upgrade by buying new devices running Android Marshmallow.
Android Jelly Bean is still around with a 17.8% market share which makes it more popular than Marshmallow. Ice Cream Sandwich is almost disappearing and now has a market share of 1.7%, down from 1.9% recorded last month. Gingerbread on the other hand has a market share of 1.9% while Froyo is almost insignificant with a market share of 0.1%.
Going forward, we expect Android Marshmallow’s market share rise as we wait for the public release of Android Nougat.
Also Read: Huawei Will Stick with Android as Long as it Remains Open
