Every third Android runs Froyo, two out of five use Eclair
Google just published the latest report on the Android versions usage. It covers the two weeks ending on November 1 and shows Android 2.1 is still in the lead, with Eclair devices accounting for more than 40 percent of all Android devices. However Froyo is quickly catching up, its share now standing at 36.2 percent.
Android 1.6 (Donut) runs on 15 percent of the Google OS devices, while 7.9 percent are still stuck with Android 1.5 (Cupcake). The other 0.1 percent of mobile phones run obsolete versions.
Compared to last month, Froyo achieved the biggest share growth (2.9 percent), while Eclair too added a bit to its popularity (0.4 percent). Understandably, Donut and Cupcake are continuing their march towards oblivion, losing 1.4 and 1.8 percent respectively. Donut is also about to take another hit as Sony Ericsson starts migrating its portfolio to Eclair.
It's good to see the two most recent versions gaining momentum so quickly (they now have nearly 80 percent of all devices between them), since fragmentation is bad news for developers and customers alike.
If the current trends continue (and we suspect that they will even accelerate), by the end of the year (when Gingerbread should be announced), Eclair and Froyo should have a share of nearly 90 percent and Froyo should easily be the most popular Android version around the globe (here's hoping).