After a rather slow climb, Android 6.0 Marshmallow finally got past the 1 percent milestone, now at 1.2%, up by a good 0.5% from last month’s 0.7%. Android 5.0 and 5.1 Lollipop, on the other hand, continue its rather slow ascent to become the dominant Android version in the market. Meanwhile, at long last, Android 2.2 Froyo might be on the verge of getting kicked out of the Android Distribution charts now that it sits precariously on the 1% floor.
Apple fans might point out that 1.2% in four months is nothing to celebrate, at least in comparison to how fast Apple manages to push its newest iOS release to both new and older devices. That might have a hint of truth, but considering the more complex situation of Android updates, that is still an achievement. Granted, Marshmallow’s beginning months does seem slower compared to Lollipop, but Google was more aggressive in pushing Android 5.0 back then, mostly because of the huge changes it brought to the table.
In fact, one could probably say that Lollipop is still the major release as far as Android versions are concerned. It now sits at 34.1%, 5.0 and 5.1 combined. It is that close to passing Android 4.4 KitKat’s 35.5%. When it does, it will become the dominant Android release in the market. Not even the combined might of three Jelly Bean releases, now only at 23.9%, can topple it.
As for older, almost ancient releases, Froyo will most likely be dropped from the charts in the next month or two, since Google no longer counts versions that go lower than 1%. The next version to look out for will be Gingerbread, which has been the longest running and most widely used Android release before Jelly Bean.
SOURCE: Google
