The Android Adoption

Last Monday, at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference in Boston, Apple’s Senior Vice President of software engineering proudly announced that 83% of its active iPhone users are running the latest version of its operating system. In pale comparison, only 12% of Android phones are running on Lollipop based on Google’s latest update.

Every keynote speech Apple has ever made, always pokes at the Android’s low adoption rate and it’s a fair point to raise. But what does it really translate to? Android currently has more than half of the total shares in the smartphone market and the reason why it’s successful is also the reason for each new OS’ low adoption rate. Think about it. Since the iOS only run on Apple products, the rollout is as flawless as it can get. With Android, you have a slew of phone manufacturers that would have to tailor your new OS to their device and it may decide to skip the update altogether. For consumers, this translates to a buggy app once it gets updated – a minor inconvenience. For developers, however, it poses a serious question as to which OS version they should concentrate on.

Ironically enough, Apple will have to tackle the same issue once their new online music streaming service, Apple Music, rolls out. The service will be made available to Android users this coming fall and the low adoption rate they so fondly mock, may be one of the problems they face. Let’s be honest, Google can only try to make the rollout as quick as they can but at the same time, they won’t and can’t force the smartphone makers to adopt the latest OS out there. The decision to welcome developers from not just one source makes it a formidable business model and added security updates to previous operating systems are a small price to pay in exchange for a bigger share of the smartphone market.