The latest Android distribution numbers are in and unlike at the start of the year when Lollipop was a no-show or last month when it just accounted for under 2%, it has finally made an appreciable appearance. A low profile one since Google’s newest version of its mobile operating system doesn’t even crack the 5% mark yet. For devices accessing the Play Store over a 7 day period ending yesterday (March 2nd), just 3.3% of them were running Android 5.
Jelly Bean and KitKat account for over 80% of all Android devices while the 4 year old Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich enters the retirement homestretch as it just runs on under 6% of Android devices. Gingerbread and Froyo (Android 2 versions!) on the chart are a constant reminder that Android is not yet out of the woods as far as kicking out fragmentation from the platform is concerned.
Lollipop’s poor showing can be mainly attributed to Google’s continued struggle with fixing the bugs that have plagued Android 5 since it started rolling out. Those bugs saw Nexus devices miss out on getting an update first for the first time with the likes of Motorola’s Moto X going ahead of them. As a result, OEMs are holding onto planned updates as they wait to fix this and that before eventual rollout. This is what has made HTC’s promise of an update within 90 days not be met. Samsung is on course though as it is already updating its 2013-2014 flagship devices and even considering some oldies like the Note II. Even then, there’s quite a number of new devices being unveiled that already run on Lollipop.
Source: Android Developers Dashboard