Marshmallow Is Now on 4.6% of All Android Devices

Android usage figures for April are in! And despite the surge of flagship phones released by the key players of the mobile market with Lollipop and Marshmallow versions, we still have KitKat as the most popular Android platform with a 33.4% distribution share.

The difference in figures between Lollipop and Marshmallow could be attributed to the pace of OS rollouts. Lollipop was still gaining precedence over KitKat when Marshmallow made its entry, thus over-riding Lollipop through this year’s flagship devices as Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Nexus 6P.

And once more, as Marshmallow rolls out at a snail’s pace, Android N was announced a month ago, with the official launch tentatively set to October next year.

Given the spate of Android releases, and the new phone models with the newest OS versions, it seems that the pace of adoption of new OS doesn’t seem to move smooth (or faster) enough. And this already has industry experts feeling concerned over the overall fragmentation of the Android ecosystem.

The Galaxy S7 and other popular smartphones launched this year drove the early adoption of the Samsung S7 series.  4.6% in distribution numbers with these devices is a gigantic step already, considering that it was at a somber 2.3% in the ecosystem not too long ago.

However, despite the increase in percentage, it is still incredibly slow and before we know it, Android N would be making the rounds.

It is rumored though that Google is taking an objective look at its distribution system and are taking some measures to make software updates easier for carriers and manufacturers. If Google takes the fragmentation issue seriously, we would definitely see a good balance in usage between the three latest OS from KitKat to Lollipop and Marshmallow – oh and N too. That’s a lot to keep up with already!