Android 13 adoption going at a snail’s pace
9to5Google reports that Android Studio has released its official Android version distribution numbers, revealing the most popular versions of Google’s mobile OS at the start of 2023.
2020’s Android 11 was still the most widely-used version, accounting for 24.4% of users.
It was followed by Android 10, with 19.5% of the market share, and Android 12, with 18.9%
The latest version of the OS — Android 13 — was running on 5.2% of Android users’ devices across the globe, five months after its launch.
Although the number might seem very low, it’s worthwhile noting that the uptake in new Android versions tends to be quite slow, because a myriad of smartphone manufacturers support the operating system.
Companies like Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, LG, Nokia, Sony, Oppo, and Vivo must each adapt new Android versions for their specific devices and software.
The chart below shows the distribution of Android versions across global devices as of January 2023.
Nevertheless, the Android 13 adoption rate appears to be relatively slow compared to other recent Android releases.
According to GlobalStats Statcounter, Android 12 was running on 7.34% of Android smartphones by February 2022, five months after its launch in October of the previous year.
Android 11 was running on 8.95% of devices five months after its launch in September 2020.
While it appears that many OEMs have accelerated their rollout of Android 13 to more devices within a shorter period than with previous versions, Android 13 is seen as a more iterative update.
That could mean that fewer people see the need to upgrade from Android 12 to Android 13.
The slower adoption comes despite efforts by Samsung, the world’s biggest Android smartphone maker, to make the OS available on all supported devices by the end of 2022.
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