Google has released a report stating the percentage of the usage of its Android OS on various devices across the world. According to the report for April 2016, Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS is now on 4.6% of all the devices, compared to 2.3% last month.
The data shows that the distribution has almost doubled. Thanks to smartphone manufacturers who have rolled out Marshmallow updates last month. Also, latest smartphones, especially Samsung S7 and S7 Edge runs Marshmallow OS out of the box. Reports say that Samsung shipped as many as 10 million S7 and S7 Edge handsets before March 31, a prime reason for the spike in Marshmallow’s adoption.
Android Lollipop now stands at 35.8% (down from 36.1%), KitKat is used on 33.4% of devices (down from 34.3%), and Jelly Bean is powering 21.3% of devices (down from 22.3%). Surprisingly, Android Ice Cream Sandwich, released in 2011, still runs on 2.2% of the devices, and Android Gingerbread launched late 2010) is running on 2.6% of devices.
Android Marshmallow will show a solid growth in the next few months, at least until Android N launches later this year.
On a comparison with iPhone OS adoption, the adoption of Android OS is less. To say, iOS 9 reached 79% of iPhones and iPads by early March. One reason for this is that Apple is in control of OS upgrades. However, Android devices are managed by the manufacturer and the carrier, which delays the update process.
