Android 6.0 Marshmallow Still Struggling With Android N Around the Corner

It’s been a slow month for Android 6.0 Marshmallow

The Android adoption numbers are in and they do not look good for 6.0 Marshmallow. The platform distribution figures posted on Android Developers blog state that Marshmallow adoption rate is currently at 7.5%. Compared to last month, the latest iteration of Android OS has managed a significant jump, from a previous 4.6%, as reported on Android Developers Blog.

The jump comes at the expense of Android Lollipop and Kitkat at 35.6% and 32.5%, respectively. Last month, Lollipop managed a 35.8% adoption rate for both 5.0 and 5.1 combined. It still is at the top of the table slightly ahead of Kitkat.

JellyBean, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Gingerbread also witnessed small drops in their adoption rate, which can be attributed to users shifting to new devices. Even Android 2.2 Froyo is mentioned in the list with a 0.1% adoption rate and is still hanging in there. It’s probably the Android team keeping old devices around just in case.

In all cases, the blame for bleak Marshmallow adoption rate lies with hardware partners. Most have been slow to push the Over-the-Air (OTA) updates for their devices and hence joined the party late. There is also the problem of device eligibility for upgrades. Smartphones that come out with Kitkat won’t ever receive Android N, the upcoming version, or even Android Marshmallow. Comparing the same timeline last year, with Google I/O conference merely weeks away, Android Lollipop had a better smartphone adoption rate than what Marshmallow currently has. Plus with the I/O we expect Android N to be revealed in full glory with a stable release and hence it would put more pressure on Android Marshmallow to catch up.