Gingerbread becomes dominant Android version for first time, running on 44% of all devices
Honeycomb's growth begins to stall
The very fact Google feels the need to publish a monthly breakdown of Android version distribution is evidence enough of the problems developers face when deciding which particular brand of the OS to focus on.
Case in point: it's taken a year for Android 2.3, otherwise known as Gingerbread, to become the dominant version of the platform.
According to numbers published on November 8, Gingerbread is now running on 44.4 percent of Android devices across the globe – that's up from 38.7 percent in October, and represents an increased rate of growth month on month.
Fighting FroyoIts gain naturally comes at the expense of the 18 month old Froyo, which saw its share fall from 45.3 percent a month ago to its current hand of 40.7 percent.
The growth of tablet-only Honeycomb, however, appears to be slowing.
Its share has increased by just 0.1 percentage points month on month to November's total of 1.9 percent.
As Ice Cream Sandwich – which will run on both smartphones and tablets – comes to the fore in the coming months, it's likely this growth will be curtailed even further.
[source: Google]