It’s been over two months since Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) launched and the adoption rate is nothing short of pitiful. It’s sort of a disaster.
The numbers, posted on Android’s developer site, paint a pretty sad picture of adoption rates. The data was gathered during a 14-day survey of Android devices that had accessed the Android Market. 55.5-percent of the devices were running Gingerbread (2.3). The tablet OS, Honeycomb (3.0), only accounted for 3.3-percent of devices to access the site during the time period and Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) posted 0.6-percent. Froyo, (2.2) which has been out for 20 months, is still chugging along at 30.4-percent.
Because it’s up to OEMs to update the software for their devices and push it consumers, it could be a while before those Ice Cream Sandwich numbers start creeping up. [Android Developer via parislemon, 9to5 Google]
whywouldanyonebuyandroid
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:29 PMhow do you spell success? F-R-A-G-M-E-N-T-A-T-I-O-N apparently! LOL
Esophagus
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 6:12 PMOf course, if a flaw in the iPhone were discovered, all iPhones could be attacked easily because they’re all running the same software. Go troll elsewhere.
John
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 9:08 PMSomeone’s a butthurt fanboy. Your logic also suggests that Apple only needs to think of but one fix to this hypothetical exploit that is guarenteed to not only run on all and ensure it were fixed. Go cry in the corner someplace else. We know you have buyers remorse.
scott
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 10:55 PMOooh … flash envy…
Jackson Bison
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 9:17 AMFunny how the only people effected by Android fragmentation are IOS users…
Isaac
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 11:59 AMExplain.
Jackson Bison
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 4:24 PMWell, Isaac, most of us Android people don’t find it much of an issue, but take IOS user whywouldanyonebuyandroid – he’s really getting quite worked up about the whole thing
Isaac
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 8:42 PMThat’s the most tenuous reasoning I have ever heard…. It’s simply your opinion dressed up as a fact.
Penmonicus
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:40 PMAny iOS figured for comparison/firestarting?
Penmonicus
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:40 PM*figures
whywouldanyonebuyandroid
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:45 PMPenmonicus, slightly out of date data, but might be relevant still:
http://www.jumptap.com/jumptap-mobilestat-report-projects-ios-users-adopt-platform-upgrades-3x-faster-than-their-android-counterparts/
Alex
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:46 PMppl still using win XP so freaking what ?
Jack
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:54 PMerrr, upgrading from XP to Windows Vista/7 is not free (unlike os updates for mobile devices)
Alex
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:14 PMpoint been – iOS got pretty much 2 versions that are still current and its 50/50 split
so whats the point complaining that not everyone on new version (free version) if it was just released …. there aer some costume ROMs out that actually version 4 if you dont want to wait till your manufacture gets up to speed
Salmonpie
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:54 PMCarriers are, as stated the problem. Part of the reason for upgrading is a new OS. Why would I hurry to lock myself in to a new 24 month contract when my phone is doing nearly everything from a visual point of view as a ICS phone
Blake
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:57 PMI’d say the vast majority of Android users haven’t heard of ICS nor would they want to update their phone OS unless they were getting a new phone.
I haven’t even gotten around to rooting mine yet and I’ve had it over a year.
If/when HTC decide to release the ICS update for my phone I’ll certainly grab it, but it’s not like I’m in any kind of rush.
dave
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:09 PMIf HTC don’t update the incredible S to ice cream sandwhich i will never be purchasing another HTC phone. Sony seems to be the best updater after the backlash they got over X10.
Labrys
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 7:32 PMYeah have to agree with you on this.
I don’t see any reason for them not too and will be pretty pissed off if they don’t as it’s a relatively new phone.
Dave
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 4:45 PMalready converted my Mrs from HTC to a SE Xperia Pro
Stew
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:11 PMYeah, pretty damn pathetic, but with so much hardware/carrier fragmentation it’s hard to avoid. And knowing that it has to go through the manufacturer then carrier before it’s even (officially) offered is… very frustrating.
I’m really applaud Apple for saying no to carrier firmware modification. I was hoping others would do the same, but being “open source” then I guess Android couldn’t. That’s one thing that iOS (and its small range of accompanying hardware) definitely has in its favour.
As soon as there’s an SGSII version out I’m bypassing the inevitable 2 month wait (yes I made that figure up) that Telstra will use to test (read: embloaten) ICS before officially releasing it.
Timmahh
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:14 PMGiz, LH and commenters in general, seem to be very phone centric! Don’t forget that 10″ touch pads update in the same manner. Or at least mine does. When I bought it, it automatically updated to honeycomb and I expect it to do the same with ICS. The problem as noted in the OP is with the manufacturer being tardy modifying ICS to suit their hardware. It’s not doing them any favors either!
light487
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:17 PMYup.. unless I root my phone, I can’t get this.
How many actual phones are out that come with ICS now?
“adoption rate is nothing short of pitiful. It’s sort of a disaster.”
I’m trying not to be negative about this.. but.. seriously man.. *shakes head*
It’s not like a new version of Windows..
Haydn
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:25 PMSurprised at the lack of 3.0, I thought more tablets than that existed. I wish Google did a better job of forcing people to update. At least I know my iPhone will get the next big update, and will for a good few years yet, whereas my Xoom, who knows if/when that will be updated. I also want a HTC sensation XE, but, again, I don’t want to be running old software.
Dan
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:34 PMI’ll install it once Samsung release it for Galaxy S, or when CM9 is out of beta/RC.
shepard
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 7:26 PMSamsung have confirmed no ICS for galaxy s, also shot down the alternate care package thing they proposed as well. Custom roms unfortunately will be the only way for most who care enough.
Jaezass
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:38 PMDoesn’t bode well for Android, looks like the OEM’s are shooting themselves in the foot. If they don’t get their fingers out, they’ll lose a huge chunk of sales due to punter apathy!
Graham
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 3:44 PMI think that chart will change very rapidly once updates are released. Keeping in mind that an upgrade to ICS means a deletion of the device from one of the other version tallies as well as an addition to the ICS tally.
Ozoneocean
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:01 PM“Pitiful”? “Disaster”? My god, hpw long has Android been out and yet people still can’t understand the ecosystem. Why are you even a tech journalist? There might be roadside ditches that need filling. ;)
whywouldanyonebuyandroid
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:14 PMso ‘splain it to use like we’re 4 yr olds then and gift us your wisdom and make better journos of us all….
I’ll sit here and wait……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. no? OK then STFU and let the real journos do their jobs
Jaezass
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:27 PMDude, you really are a spiteful little troll, time for your medicine now, away you go!
Kroo
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 5:57 PMJust shoot the messenger. Always works for dumbasses. He’s only stating the facts. Maybe more stupid people buy Andriod phones than iPhones. All those I know with android phones have two criteria. 1) Free phone on a plan, or 2) They look real purdy! Don’t expect those with lower IQ’s to understand fragmentation let alone rooting. This ploy is only to sell more phones for the manufacturers. This is why Google should never have handed updates to them, and it will be the cause of its inevadable failure.
fatherted
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:06 PMahem…
http://insights.chitika.com/2011/iphone-ipad-users-front-runners-in-ios5-update/
30% of ios devices updated from ios 4 in under a month.
that’s why robby says “It’s sort of a disaster.”
Greg
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:17 PMFar more useful information would be out of those devices that CAN ACTUALLY RUN ICS, what the installed OS base looks like.
You know, given that the numbers of devices that can actually run the OS are limited right now.
Jester
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:20 PMFirst up, feeling pretty special to be part of the 0.6% :)
As for why it’s only 0.6%, I imagine much of has to do with the timing. With CES just around the corner I imagine many of the companies who plan to release ICS devices will do so then as part of a massive event.
As for why existing devices haven’t adopted it, feel free to correct me because I’m no expert here, but I believe ICS is designed to function best on a minimum hardward standard that exceeds most existing handsets. So although I’ve seen a Galaxy S II using it, it’s nowhere near the experience of using it on my Galaxy Nexus. Hence, people will wait until dedicated devices are launched during CES.
Jack
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:58 PMBut this has always been the case with almost every Android update. If you look at the graph, there is a substantial population with Android 2.1 & 2.2 (which is ancient). Google releases an update, the handset makers sing jolly good for a long time and pass it on to the carriers who then take a long time again before it hits the general public.
And if there is something wrong with either the update provided by the handset maker or the carrier, then you are screwed (e.g. Vodafone SG2 users in the UK)
Will
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:46 PMOEM companies won’t push ICS until after their next batch of devices are released as “may” impact sales. Since Samsung released the Nexus, they’ll probably be the first to update their previous devices to ICS (i.e. GS2).
Will
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 4:47 PM*as it may
Spuddy
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 6:08 PM2.3 gets corrupted every time I try to download it on my Desire Z. I don’t care much because I’ve given up on Android anyway.
smurfydog
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 7:07 PMIt’s an interesting statistic, especially compared to the adoption rate of iOS 5, but it’s just a phone OS. It doesn’t effect the way most people use their phones in any significant way, and I imagine most android users really don’t care.
I still using iOS 4.1 because, while there are features I’ll enjoy when I update, I so far couldn’t be arsed going through the hassle of re-organising my apps into folders etc, re-jailbreaking and setting all my jailbreak apps up again, and working out which ones aren’t compatible with iOS 5.x.
I have nothing planned for my RDO next week so maybe then, but if not then I’m really not fussed.
Mmmmm
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 9:18 PMstill waiting for my Nexus S to get the update so I’m still waiting for Google.
Puddiepants
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 10:53 PMI’d really like some more info on those stats, such as what the sample size was and have that compared to the number of active android devices (or at least a rough number) and then a bit of a comparison as to how many of those devices actually have access to official updates to that particular android version. I know that’s a lot of info to compare, but when I read the stats above, to me it says sweet FA… 0.6% of android devices have ICS, that doesn’t even remotely tell the whole story, the most obvious question I feel is how many android devices actually have official access to ICS (not everyone is rooting and custom ROMing their phone), then show a percentage of how many of those devices have ICS
All those iOS fans who are comparing the uptake rate of iOS, it was made available to every iPhone on the same day (as far as I am aware), so really a decent comparison would be availability to update rate (given that android updates are not made available to every android device at the same time). I’m not having a go at iOS (I’m the current owner of a 3GS, cause my SGS2 had some stupid echo issue and is off being fixed atm) I updated it the day it came out and will do so with my SGS2 when ICS is released for it
John
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 1:30 AMSo it takes a while for the updates to happen. big deal? my phone is still 2.2 and there’s no problem with it. why this need to upgrade just because there’s an update available? I remember seeing a similar graph when 2.2 came out and the same argument applied for all the 2.0/2.1 versions still around. Android seems to have done pretty well since then. No reason why it shouldn’t continue now.
Jack
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 3:02 AMThe reason it hasn’t been adopted is most android sales are to people that just want a smartphone to do the things that this technological world requires- these people buy the one that suits them and stick with it- they don’t need to update it it’s fine as all they use it for is for emails web browsing texting and calling. The people that update to the newest and u-buet software are People that want the most out of their mobiles. And besides its hard to find a mobile that’s not a smartphone so the people that would buy a cheap Nokia are now buying an android I mean there’s shitloads of them!