Android fragmentation report released

According to foreign media reports, Android fragmentation has plagued the mobile operating system for years, although Google has recently taken active corrective measures. What impact does this problem cause? Devices of different sizes, running a wide range of Android versions and models are numerous, making it extremely difficult for developers to adapt to the increasingly dominant mobile platform on a large scale.

OpenSignal recently released the 2014 Android fragmentation report, using specific data to illustrate the severity of the problem.

Let me first briefly introduce OpenSignal, the company that developed the eponymous app that generates mobile network coverage maps based on crowdsourced information from smartphone users. It has been available on the Android platform for some time, and last year it launched an app version for iPhone users.

OpenSignal has become one of the largest independent sources of global mobile operator speed and coverage data. Rather than relying on coverage maps provided by the mobile operators themselves, it collects this information directly from users and makes it public, so that everyone can see which operator has the best coverage and where. In the process, OpenSignal has gained a byproduct: a lot of non-network-related data it collects provides deep insights into the current state of the mobile field, including 4G network coverage and usage data for different device models. In other words, information on fragmentation.

According to OpenSignal, it found 18,796 "different Android devices" this year, up 58% from 11,868 last year. To come up with this number, it looked at 682,000 Android devices with its app installed, so the data should be representative of the current state of the Android ecosystem. There is no doubt that this number is growing naturally - after all, there have been a lot of new Android devices entering the market in the past 12 months, and the existing devices are not going away all of a sudden.

Figure 1-Brand fragmentation

From a brand perspective, it's no surprise that Samsung dominates the Android device market with a 43% share (down from 47.5% last year). Sony ranks second with only 4%, which fully illustrates the huge gap between Samsung and the rest of the Android camp. LG, Motorola and Huawei are also at the top. According to OpenSignal, 12 of the 13 most used Android devices are from Samsung.

Figure 2 - Android vs. iOS

The variety of devices is only one aspect of the Android fragmentation problem. OpenSignal collected data from Google and Apple and compared the penetration of each version of the two mobile systems. For example, 20.9% of Android users use KitKat (Android 4.4), most Android users use Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) or above, and the proportion of Android users who still use Gingerbread or Froyo is slightly more than 14%.

In comparison, according to Apple's official data, the penetration rate of iOS 7 is as high as 91%, iOS 6 accounts for 8%, and older iOS system versions account for less than 1% in total.

It’s important to note that while OpenSignal’s data is fairly extensive, it’s still limited to devices that have the OpenSignal app installed — a significant number, but not representative of all Android smartphones in use, and therefore may not truly reflect the overall picture.

Regardless, the OpenSignal report is worth a read, as it also collects some data from third-party sources, including the correlation between fragmentation and GDP per capita.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.