Android Marshmallow & The State of Android Fragmentation in 2015

The fragmentation issues of Android are nothing new. However, right now if you look at the adoption rates you are likely to notice an understandingly peculiar thing. most of the users today, i.e. 70 percent of all users, are on a two-year old OS version.

The State of Android Fragmentation

The adoption rates of Android 6.0 Marshmallow are still abysmal.  As of this week, only 0.5% of all Android users run the latest iteration of the world’s most widespread OS. The versions which came before that, Android 5.0 Lollipop and its variants, also boast a combined 29.5 percent of share only.

Android Fragmentation

What’s more is that Lollipop has actually climbed faster than Marshmallow, almost 4 percent up over the last month, when compared to Marshmallow’s meager 0.2 percent hike.

Which Are The Most Popular Android OS By Install Base?

The most popular variants are Android 4.4 KitKat and  4.1 Jelly Bean, which are turning out to be the XP/7 of mobile phone world. Jelly Bean, which was originally launched in July of 2012 still sees a combined 26.9 percent of the entire population’s share. Android 4.4 KitKat which was released in October 2013 sits at an even higher 36.6 percent share.

What about Apple iOS 9?

Compared to Apple’s iOS, the issues are magnified infinitely. By contrast, just as much (70 percent) of all iOS users are playing with iOS 9, the latest iteration of Apple’s OS which was rolled out just this September. Those are followed by iOS 8 which sits at a sizably smaller 22 percent.

Comparisons may not really fit due to the lack of similarities, but one can’t help but feel how lesser-dedicated are Android OEMs by comparison when it comes to updating their devices, even when it comes to flagships. The situation is said to improve in the near-future as more and more Marshmallow devices hit the market but it looks like Jelly Bean and KitKat are going to be a common sight for quite some time now.


  • no comparison at all…apple is a single company receiving enough money to provide support for unified devices and upgrades… android is a family of looooooottt of manufacturers mostly looking for cost effectiveness and selling new models instead of focusing on upgrading previous models..

  • Fragmentation is a real problem and Google recognizes this frenzy that comes with many many android phone manufacturers. With this many manufacturers comes sub-par Android experience. While there is no real way to address this fragmentation the real loss it at Google. New versions bring enhancements and performance upgrades but the updates are so slow to reach end-users. Samsung for example, takes months to release a new android version. Until manufactures continue to put skins on top of Android fragmentation will exist. Buying a stock Android phone seems to be the only viable solution , for now.


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