Is Kitkat Killing Lollipop Uptake?

BarbaraHudson writes Remember how Windows XP was "good enough" that people took forever to upgrade? The same might be happening with Kitkat vs Lollipop. "According to Google's latest Google Play Store results for early January 2015, less than 0.1 percent of all Android devices were using Lollipop. By comparison, the last major Android release 4.4, KitKat, reached 1.1 percent of its audience in its first month out. In January 2015, almost two months in for Lollipop, KitKat is still number one with 39.1 percent of the market. It's followed by the various Jelly Bean versions, 4.1.x with 19.2 percent; 4.2.x with 20.3 percent, and 4.3 with 6.5 percent. Trailing them is Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.03-04 with 7.8 percent, followed by antique Froyo, 2.2, with 0.4 percent."

Comments

Manufacturers

[smallmj]

Or maybe the phone manufacturers are being dog slow at rolling out Lollipop upgrades for their recent phones. We don't all have a Nexus.

That's not quite how I remember it

[wonkey_monkey]

Remember how Windows XP was "good enough" that people took forever to upgrade?

No, but I do remember that Vista was found to be so wanting that many people went back to XP, and those that had waited heard the horror stories and stayed put.

Re: Competition

[Anonymous Coward]

I switched to WP and hated it..

The apps either didn't exist or were featureless, including Microsoft's own ones. Needless to say, I was happy to go back to Android

Re:No

[Anonymous Coward]

Ironically, Apple fanboys don't have to buy a new device just to get a software upgrade.

Re:No

[BitZtream]

Apart from Apple fanboys, I don't think anybody is stupid enough to buy a new device just to get a software upgrade.

Then you are in denial, naive or just plain stupid. I work at a phone company that also happens to sell mobile phones, I assure you, plenty of people say they would buy a new phone just for a new version of the OS.

The real question is WHY SHOULD I UPGRADE to the next version. Apple spews new features all over in press info and even TV commercials. You don't have to go looking for it, they tell you.

Android on the other hand uses silly code names so it takes normal (i.e. non-fanboys) a long time before they even know WTF lollipop is, and the real kicker is ... unless you go digging, no one anywhere has given any reason WHY you would want to bother upgrading. The people rushing to upgrade to lollipop are the same ones that run beta OS releases, and thats why it has an non-existent user base. No one else cares.