Android’s Lollipop and iOS 8 were announced at virtually the exact same time, but iOS 8 is obliterating it in terms of user adoption.
According to figures released by both Apple and Google, iOS 8 has 85 percent adoption among eligible iPhone and iPad users, while Lollipop is struggling its way to a mere 12.4 percent.
Given that iOS 9 is now well into its beta period, and the official public version is just two months away, I’d expect adoption to have just about maxed out at this point. If Apple’s lucky, it will hit 87 percent before iOS 9 — but it’s still a massive feat compared to what Android is managing.
Apple’s figures were measured by visits to the App Store on July 20. It showed that 13 percent of people are still using iOS 7, while a minuscule 2 percent are working on older iOS versions than this — coincidentally not far from the number of Android users using the latest Lollipop 5.1 version.
Overall, iOS 8 adoption has been slightly slower than iOS 7 growth, which hit 85 percent the week ending March 23, 2014 — four months earlier than iOS 8. By July that year it hit 90 percent.
Interestingly, Tim Cook announced during yesterday’s earnings call that last quarter Apple “experienced the highest switcher rate from Android that we’ve ever measured.” Just to add a bit more salt in the wound.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
8 responses to “iOS 8 has 7x the adoption of Android’s Lollipop”
As a user of Lollipop on a Nexus 7, I can tell you its not an upgrade that has any meaningful new features. Few non-Nexus users even have the opportunity to upgrade, and those that have are underwhelmed.
I understand completely. Although the 5.1 update solved many issues and 5.1.1 solved even more. Hopefully android M will redeem itself although now with 5.1 on my moto x i’m really liking it. My ipad has ios 8 and i can tell, it hasn’t felt like an upgrade ever since ios 6. Plus it still has no true multitasking which is reason i keep using my phone over my ipad.
And this means what?
They are trying to imply that people don’t update their OS on Android devices as quickly as iOS users. Part of the reason is that the majority of Android phones in the hands of users simply can’t get the upgrade, so they can’t upgrade the OS unless they buy a new phone. It’s kind of looking at the inherent flaws in how the OS is distributed by the OEMs. I think judging from the way Google has their licensing agreement and how the phone mfg make/sell products, they are BOTH going to have to make some drastic changes to get a higher percentage of Android users at the most recent OS version.
Apples to Oranges. Anyone with an iPhone 4s or better can upgrade to iOS 8. To upgrade to Lollipop you have to wait until your phone’s manufacturer makes it available on your phone. There are lots of Android phones that will never get the upgrade because the manufacturer doesn’t care. Motorola is quick to update their phones, but Samsung is especially bad at this.
It’s fascinating how an 80% adoption rate is considered bad for Apple while Android struggles to break double digits in the same time frame.
The problem for Google is that there’s really no way to resolve this issue without adopting the Apple way and removing carriers and manufacturers from the mix.
What do you expect for an OS that’s name after a sucker on a stick?
Are you aware that the Apple figures you quoted are based on *eligible* users, while the Android figures are based on *all* users, including those that aren’t eligible. My god, man, the Android figures include Froyo which is circa 2010. This is a meaningless comparison and your conclusion is bogus.
Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive.