14 DAY TRIAL // Android 5.0 Lollipop market share increased by 3.4% since last month according to Google's newly published Android distribution numbers.
For those who don't remember, last month Google reported that Lollipop runs on 9% of the Android devices that are registered on Google Play Store. Today, the search giant announces that Lollipop is now present on 12.4% of Android devices.
According to the numbers, Android 5.0 Lollipop is tagged with 11.6% market share, while Android 5.1 Lollipop shows up with just 0.8%.
While Android OEMs are struggling to complete the rollout of Android 5.0 Lollipop to its high-end smartphones, Google is ready to unleash Android M, the next version of its mobile platform.
However, that won't happen until later this fall, so handset makers still have enough time to put Lollipop on their devices. Apart from Nexus and GPE phones and tablets, few or maybe none of the current flagship devices are expected to receive Android M upgrades this year.
The situation will most certainly change beginning early next year, as HTC has already confirmed its One M9 and One M9+ will definitely be getting the upgrade, and we're sure other companies will join with their announcements.
Android 4.4 KitKat is still rules in Google Play store
As for the other versions of Android that are still running the show in the Google Play Store, here are the official numbers: Android 4.4 KitKat 39.2%, Android 4.x Jelly Bean 37.4%, Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich 5.1%, Android 2.3x Gingerbread 5.6%, and Android 2.2 Froyo 0.3%.
Android 4.4 KitKat is still the most used version of the platform, just like the previous distribution numbers confirmed in the last couple of months.
However, KitKat market share only dropped by 0.7%, which means many Android OEMs continue to release mid-range or budget-friendly smartphones powered by this version of the OS.
According to Google, the data has been collected during a 7-day period ending June 1. Also, any versions with less than 0.1% distribution will not show in the statistics.