Google has recently released its distribution report regarding the different versions of its mobile operating system and the results aren't looking very good for KitKat, the company's latest version of Android.
Granted, Android KitKat hasn't been around for very long and only a handful of new devices currently ship with KitKat preloaded. Moreover, third party manufacturers have been slow to release KitKat updates for some of their already released flagship models. Android manufacturers have long been known for being slow to update to the latest versions of Android.
Google's Android distribution report indicates that Jelly Bean is still the dominant version in the Android market. All three builds of Jelly Bean account for 59.1 percent of the total Android-equipped mobile devices currently in circulation. This was followed by Gingerbread with 21.2 percent of the market share, Ice Cream Sandwich with 19.9 percent and finally, KitKat with 1.4 percent. Other versions of Android such as Froyo and Honeycomb accounted for 1.3 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.
While Google may have been expecting a surge in the number of KitKat devices, Jelly Bean has continued to enjoy climbing market shares, especially when compared to the November 2013 distribution report where Jelly Bean accounted for about 54.5 percent of the market. Jelly Bean continued to enjoy climbing distribution statistics last December when it rose to 54.5 percent. Among the current Jelly Bean build available, Android Jelly Bean 4.1 is the most dominant, currently accounting for 35.9 percent of the Android market share.
Back in November 2013, KitKat enjoyed a distribution percentage of 1.1 percent, which means that the latest version of Android enjoyed a small boost of 0.3 percent last month. However, this may soon change when Android manufacturers such as Samsung and LG finally get around to releasing their KitKat updates for their flagship models.
A number of new models were unveiled at the CES 2014 last week and it is likely that many of these newer smartphones will ship with KitKat already preloaded when they are finally released into the market. The upcoming influx of next generation flagship smartphones will likely have an effect on KitKat market penetration statistics.
