OS / Software

Jelly Bean is fastest growing version of Android, controls one-third of Android devices

Vamien McKalin

The latest version of Android, versions 4.1.x and 4.2.x, codenamed Jelly Bean, now powers 33 percent of devices according to Google, which means it could unseat Gingerbread, which powers 36 percent of Android devices, by the end of the year.

Over the past month, Jelly Bean has grown by 4.6 percentage points compared to the previous month. Jelly Bean's rise to power comes at the expense of other versions of Android, especially that of Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread.

Ice Cream Sandwich has managed to fall by 1.8 percent, while Gingerbread dipped by 2.1 percent during the course of a month. With the rate at which Jelly Bean is growing, it could unseat Gingerbread by the ending of this month, but to play it safe, we'll put it as far as the end of the year.

Currently, the Android landscape is sliced into three pies, one belonging to the aging Ice Cream Sandwich, the second to Gingerbread, and finally the third to fast growing Jelly Bean. However, Jelly Bean is the only one of the three that is experiencing growth, which can only mean great news for developers as the Android ecosystem becomes less fragmented.

The growth of Jelly Bean shows how the whole Android market is still growing exponentially, that a new version can so quickly dominate the precious, already-huge installed base. Still, despite Jelly Bean being the fastest growing version of Android, the platform is still a fragmented mess, and Google will need to find ways to fix this problem before it gets out of control.

Beginning in April, 2013, Google stated that the company will be using "data collected from each device when the user visits the Google Play Store. Previously, the data was collected when the device simply checked-in to Google servers. We believe the new data more accurately reflects those users who are most engaged in the Android and Google Play ecosystem." It looks like the cleanup has started.

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