During the last year it was found that about 81% of the worldmarket of smartphones has Android embedded in them. This survey was conducted by IDC which is a research firm. But unluckily, the operating system is shattered into pieces.The latest version of OS by Android launched, till today, is Lollipop 5.0, but among all the Android phones only 3.3% use it. Previous operating system was KitKat 4.4 that is used by 40.9% Android phones.KitKat 4.4 was announced in October two years ago, whereas rests of the phones utilize the initial versions. This report was generated by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) itself.
It has been found that many novel features of the latest OSwould not function in most of Android devices.The software requirements to make Android wear (a contracted operating system) operate properly is to have a minimum of Android 4.3. A deduction can be made that not more than a half of all the Android devices can seek this benefit of connected smartwatches.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has just announced the initiation of Android for Work in order to grow Android based undertaking devices. This initiative is dependent onLollipop’s latest profile-splitting feature, developed for the purpose of security which is a confined functionality for only 3% of all Androids. However, an application Android for work has been created by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to provide similar function for earlier operating systems like Ice Cream Sandwich 3.0. Due to this provision, more than 90% of Android devices are being facilitated by this security feature. But it is vague to decide whether it will be as secure as the original application developed for Lollipop.
In contrast to Android, approximately 75% of Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices are operating on iOS 8 (launched in September last year) already, while 22% still have iOS 7. So this is an outstanding success for the company. Because of their controlled hardware and software development, every new feature works on most of the devices.
During Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) try in manufacturing the outstanding devices with controlled hardware and software like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), it purchased Motorola Mobility Holdings LLC a few years back. After facing a loss of many billion dollars, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) sold Motorola’s share to Lenovo Group Limited (ADR) (OTCMKTS:LNVGY) last year.
In order to lessen fragmentation, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) looked into two main methodologies. It exchanged its Nexus with HTC, LG and Asus to have better hardware of tablets and smartphones. Secondly, it developed design standards to manufacture devices that had an option of updating their OS to the latest versions.
As Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) doesn’t want to create its own hardware, so to keep it stick to the mobile world Android is the way, although its price rates have decreased. The company is earning its profit via Google play sales and mobile ads rather than selling its devices.
Development of a new OS by Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) has made situation even worse for Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Its target is to reduce its dependency on Android. According to a report by ABI, among the shipped devices, 29% were forked.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has the best OS but substandard hardware, fragmentation would remain a problem until improved.
