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Over 900,000 Android devices are being activated every day, according to Google bod Andy Rubin.
Rubin revealed the stat — which shows Google’s robot-powered operating system isn’t going anywhere — on Twitter, in response to rumours that he was planning on quitting the search giant.
“Oh, and just for meme completeness — there are over 900,000 Android devices activated each day,” Rubin wrote, signing off with a cheeky “:-)”, the scamp.
The news comes on the day Apple will reveal new features for rival operating system iOS.
The number shows steady growth for Android, which was announced to have hit 700,000 activations per day back in December of last year. Just over a year ago, in April of last year, the rate stood at 350,000 activations every 24 hours.
Last Christmas, meanwhile, saw a stonking 3.7 million Android devices switched on during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day combined.
The operating system’s popularity has been bolstered by cracking phones from the likes of HTC, which produced the popular HTC Legend and HTC Desire, and more recently Samsung, whose Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S3 have made Android incredibly desirable. The adorable mascot doesn’t hurt, either.
While Rubin’s figures make it clear that Android is more popular than ever, there are questions surrounding the operating system’s future. As manufacturers create new and exotic mobiles, slathering phones with their own custom interfaces, Android will become even more diverse, making app development and updates increasingly tricky.
For instance, Samsung made a right pig’s ear of updating the Galaxy S2 to Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Android. Despite Ice Cream Sandwich having been available to manufacturers since November, many smart phone owners are still waiting for their mobiles to be updated, and the latest version is currently occupying just 7.1 per cent of Android devices.
The rise of Android has been impressive to watch, however, and despite eager upstarts like Windows Phone entering the fray, the battle for smart phone supremacy is still very much between Apple and Android.
If you fancy tracking Android’s early growth, Google released a flashy futuristic video early last year that shows the operating system’s explosive popularity between 2008 and 2011. I’ve embedded it below for your visual enjoyment.
What do you think is the future for Android? Let me know in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
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