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Android monthly update: Gingerbread still has majority, Jelly Bean climbs up

Posted Dec 4 2012 by Dustin Karnes in  with 5 Comments



In this month’s update concerning the distribution of OS versions across devices, we’re seeing things move forward… at least a little bit.

Here’s a rundown of the numbers:

Version Codename API Distribution
1.5 Cupcake 3 0.1%
1.6 Donut 4 0.3%
2.1 Eclair 7 2.7%
2.2 Froyo 8 10.3%
2.3 – 2.3.2 Gingerbread 9 0.2%
2.3.3 – 2.3.7 10 50.6%
3.1 Honeycomb 12 0.4%
3.2 13 1.2%
4.0.3 – 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich 15 27.5%
4.1 Jelly Bean 16 5.9%
4.2 17 0.8%

The alarming thing, in this editor’s opinion, is the huge number of devices still running Gingerbread. While it is considered by many to be the most popular – and easily developed for – version of Android, a solid 50.8% of devices is too many to be running an OS version that old. However, it is nice to see ICS and JB take up a combined 34.2% of the share.

Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments.

via android developers blog

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About the Author

Dustin KarnesDustin Karnes is a technology fan and Android fanatic. He fills his days with enterprise level tech support, and free time with Android news and reviews, and occasionally takes a peek at the world outside his window long enough to see the sun. His articles have been featured on many Android / Technology sites, and he runs an HTC Evo 3D, rooted and running any number of custom ROMs. He is a husband to a wonderful wife and father to two beautiful girls, and resides in Houston, TX.View all posts by Dustin Karnes →

  • http://jordanhotmann.com/ Jordan Hotmann

    The gingerbread numbers should shrink significantly in the next coming months as people on 2 year contracts make their upgrades, since most phones that launched with 2.2 or 2.3 never saw a 4.x upgrade.

  • jacktx42

    At Sam’s Club today, I looked at the phones available. Carriers included T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. Sprint had 10 phones on display: 1 feature phone, 4 Gingerbread phones, 5 ICS phones; all four Gingerbread phones were 96¢ w/ 2-year contract, and the ICS phones were normally priced. AT&T had 2 iPhones, and roughly half-and-half (5/5) ICS/Gingerbread phones, all normally priced. T-Mobile had one feature phone, 4 Gingerbread phones and 4 ICS phones.

    I realize this is not an exhaustive list or a scientific sampling, but I don’t think it’s necessarily that far off. I don’t see this condition changing drastically any time soon. As long as the manufacturers keep churning out the cheaper phones, Gingerbread will continue to have a major percentage of the Android market (not necessarily majority). Yes, it will decline over time, but unless the carriers heavily incentivize the transition to ICS+ devices (and what incentive do the carriers have to do this?), the decline will be slow (and painful to the buyers who choose Gingerbread devices — not that I’m saying Gingerbread is bad, just not as useful as ICS and JB).

  • JimRay

    Really? Why is that shocking? Manufacturers refuse to update their phones unless you are on the latest and greatest hardware. Even then, Android updates have to also be approved by the carriers. Why should the public upgrade our h/w just to get on the latest Android version?

  • Xtinch

    I agree with you about the warn, but as JimRay said, it’s a manufacturers and carrier’s problem, as the smartphones moved from “tool/useful” to “trendy” device, they only sell new versions along with new hardware. They must review this strategy.

  • Robert Caldecott

    Most people don’t care what version of Android their device is running. Geeks like us care a lot though obviously. As nearly all Android apps seem to run quite happily on GB I don’t really see why this is such a massive issue for people anyway. Perhaps a little perspective is required? This topic really has been done to death and things aren’t going to change anytime soon. In 2 years time people will be moaning about all the old Jellybean phones that still can’t get updated to Android 6. :)