GENERATIONS ANDROID: KITKAT IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JELLY BEAN

The learning curve of Android 4.4 "KitKat" on the market for technology goods is strongly reminiscent of those earlier versions, especially "Jelly Bean" 4.2.

The last reset monthly barometer that Google intends to developers suggests some stability in the adoption of new versions' s Android .

Based on the analysis of connections to Play Store between March 26 and April 1, estimates of Internet group are approximate. However, they are sufficient to establish a parallel between the evolution of the latest "KitKat" (4.4) and that of his predecessors of the "Jelly Bean" line (grinds 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3).

After a little more than five months on the market, Android "KitKat" 5.3% of people went to the Play Store radar devices. A surge of 2.5% in terms of which he was credited last month - and its 1.8% in February, against 1.4% in January and 1.1% in December. Driven by the initiative of several manufacturers that begin to migrate their fleet of smartphones , this sudden increase is reminiscent had known a year ago, Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean" less than 1% of the market in February 2013; 1.6% in March; 2% in April; 2.3% in May ... then a breakthrough on the period of June (4%) to July (5.6%).


The rise of Android 4.4 "KitKat" is combined with the loss of influence of all other versions. Illustration with "Jelly Bean" 4.3, whose development is experiencing a setback to 8.9% of terminals in circulation, "Jelly Bean" 4.3 knows a halt. Aging "Jelly Bean" 4.2 (17.1% of the market, a point lost in one month) and 4.1 (34.4% or - 0.9) show some resilience, but are progressively the witness. The same goes for "Gingerbread" 2.3, still identified 17.8% of respondents devices (it was 19% in February).

By adding 14.3% of "Ice Cream Sandwich" 4.0 (- 0.9), approximately one-third of users use a version of Android with more than two years of age. Bottom of the ranking, crumbs back to Android 2.2 "Froyo" (1.1%, 0.1 percentage point of lost in one month) and "Honeycomb" 3.2 stationed for several months at 0.1%. Recall that "Donut" (1.6) and "Lightning" (2.1) were ousted from ranking last September, lack of compatibility with the latest version of the Play Store.

In a difficult economic context, Android remains a fragmented universe. The lengthening of the life cycle of mobile terminals and arrival at market saturation "mature" as North America and Eastern Europe contributed to this heterogeneity. The situation may be changing under the influence of industry, which now oversees Google stricter practices. To push manufacturers to massively install the latest version of Android, the Internet group had adopted a draconian measure: the devices placed on the market with older iterations of the OS will no longer have access to the Play Store and ancillary services beyond a certain time.

Obstacle security and application compatibility, fragmentation also relates sizes and screen resolutions, which are increasing as the supply comes from smartphones, tablets, PCs and connected TVs.