Every month, Google releases the Android distribution chart (this shows us how much of the market each individual version of the OS takes up) once each month to help developers prioritize their resources for widely used Android OS versions rather than wasting them on old or outdated Android versions. To get the estimated values of Android usage share, Google keeps an eye on active Android versions in the first week of every month.
As we move through the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) and into the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC), we’ll get to see more phones running Oreo that will be announced with last year’s devices like the Galaxy S8 and OnePlus 5T getting their updates to Oreo in the few months to come and as soon as that begins to happen, Oreo’s marketshare will take off.
In the usual manner, the latest iteration is growing, but at an excruciatingly slow pace. Oreo was at 0.5 percent a month ago, and now it has gotten to 0.7 in percentage (an increase of only 0.2). At this rate, many months will pass by before it even arrives at 10 percent.
That has always been the way things are in the Android world. However, as displayed on the Android distribution chart, the most popular Android OS version is still the Android 6.0 Marshmallow, launched in 2015. Although it has lost some steam, falling to 28.6 percent from 29.7 percent in December. Android 7.0 Nougat comes next with 26.3 percent going up almost 4 percent every month, while Android 5.0 Lollipop closes the podium with 25.1 percent of the pie. Android 4.4 KitKat still commands 12.8 percent of the market, and Android 4.1 – 4.3 Jelly Bean has 5.6 percent. Android 4.0.3 – 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 2.3.3 – 2.3.7 Gingerbread have at last been overtaken by Oreo.
