Half of Android devices are powered by Jelly Bean

The latest figures are out and they reveal that more than half of all Android devices are powered by the Jelly Bean build of the OS. This includes Android 4.1.x to Android 4.3. The entire range of Jelly Bean flavored Android models now makes up 52.1% of the platform's population. Gingerbread, which covers Android 2.3.3 to 2.3.7, is next with a 26.3% share of Android models. That is followed by the 19.8% owned by Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.3 to 4.0.4). The data is based on visits to the Google Play Store for seven days up to November 1st.

This past week, Google introduced Android 4.4 KitKat which should start to show up in next month's distribution figures. But Android detractors are going to look at the large number of those still using a phone running Gingerbread and bring up the fragmentation issue that has plagued Android since Froyo days. Android 4.4 is supposed to help eliminate some of the fragmentation by working with some Android models carrying just 512MB of RAM. We will have to wait to see future distribution figures to see how successful this strategy works.