14 DAY TRIAL // Although it is not the latest Android version out there, the Android 2.1 Eclair operating system currently enjoys the largest share of the Android segment. Officially released on the market in the beginning of the ongoing year, when Google launched the Nexus One handset, Android 2.1 managed to cannibalize the Android 2.0 and Android 2.0.1 flavors, and now accounts for around 55.5 percent of all devices that are based on Google's mobile platform.
The percentage was brought to light by the guys over at Android Developers, who recently updated the page on their website set to provide “data about the relative number of active devices running a given version of the Android platform.” According to the page (based on data collected during the two weeks period ended July 15, 2010), the Android 1.6 version is still one of the most users Android OSes, with 22.1 percent distribution on devices, followed by Android 2.1 with a distribution of 18.9 percent, and by the recently released Android 2.2 Froyo platform, with 3.3 percent.
One thing that was expected was for Android 2.2 to enjoy a small market share at the moment, especially since it has just started to roll-out on handsets on the market. Nexus One was the first mobile phone to receive an update to Android 2.2, and only in the United States Market, as the European version of the device would start being updated only next week. Other Android-based devices should taste Froyo at a later time.
As for Android 2.1, it has been steadily increasing its market share ever since about a half a year ago. High-end devices launched on the market with previous flavors of Google's mobile OS already got updated to Android 2.1, something that, complemented by the launch of other appealing devices running under Android 2.1 right from the start, helped the platform version grow. Additional info on the usage of Android devices based on various flavors of the OS can be extracted from the stacked line graph to the left.
