After a three month hiatus Google has updated the platform version breakdown for their Android operating system. The latest numbers come just weeks after Verizon updated their Motorola Droid to Android 2.1. The data comes from the number of Android devices that have accessed Android Market and it was collected during the two weeks ending on 4/12/2010.
Android 1.5 now accounts for the most devices with 38%, followed by Android 1.6 at 31.6% and Android 2.1 at 30%.
Since the data came towards the end of Droid 2.1 OTA update, a small percentage of devices still reported as Android 2.0.1. We believe all those devices should now be upgraded to Android 2.1 so I’m just lumping those two versions together in my chart.
Comparing the last three sets of data from Google reveals some interesting results. Android 2.1 made the biggest gains since January largely due to the strong sales of the Droid (and the addition of the Nexus One). Android 1.5 also saw gains thanks to Motorola’s trio of the CLIQ, CLIQ XT, and Backflip. Sprint’s Hero and Moment phones are also still on Android 1.5.
The only version that continues to shrink is Android 1.6. The Verizon Devour was the only new Android 1.6 device to launch in the U.S. since the last report and it joins the HTC Dream and Magic.
We expect the majority of first gen Android phones will be upgraded to Android 2.1 this quarter so look for some major changes next time Google updates the numbers.
