Android 4.0 is taking what seems to be a very slow path to being fully embraced by the majority of android-based mobile devices.
According to a study by Chitika Insights, Android 4.0, also known as “Ice Cream Sandwich,” is only being used by 1.12% of Android based devices.
According to their study, most of us using Android based phones are still on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Gingerbread is two Android generations back – and 66% of us are still using it.
Android 2.2 (Froyo) is the second most common version of Android out there. 22% of us are using Froyo, which predated Gingerbread.
After Gingerbread came Android 3 (Honeycomb), which is being used by about 3% of us. Almost 7% are hanging onto even older versions of Android..
Android 4.0 was introduced by Google in May of 2011, and officially launched in October on the Galaxy Nexus.
So Ice Cream Sandwich has been available for about four months… why is it currently on less than 2% of phones and tablets?
Part of the reason is that Android comes in many different flavors. Manufacturers and carriers can take Android and build their own user interfaces and branding. Some do that more than others. With each new version of Android, that customized programming must be renovated, updated, and tested.
That’s happening with a good number of devices right now, and over time, updates are rolling out for many existing devices. In addition to that, more and more new devices are coming with Android 4 installed.
It may be a few months before it’s obvious, but we expect Android 4 to gain momentum during 2012, and that percentage should rise. Of course, by the time most of us are using it, it will likely be time to update to Android 5!
