The latest numbers show Android is still growing at a breakneck pace
Since Android was first launched in 2008, it has become the most widely used mobile operating system in the world. As we move toward an all-connected world, smartphones have become an essential pylon in our society, and Android powers everything from bleeding-edge, ultra-expensive flagships to low-tier, under $100 smartphones, so its flexibility has allowed it to become hugely successful. Still, we’re constantly impressed by how quickly Android is growing, even today. At Google I/O 2022, the company shared a few numbers to show the world Android growth is still more healthy than ever.
At the keynote, Google’s Sameer Samat confirmed that over 1 billion new Android devices were activated in just the last year. Considering there are close to 8 billion people on the planet, this means that an eighth of the world’s population activated an Android phone from any manufacturer within the past 365 days. This speaks numbers to Android’s global scale and reach — as we mentioned before, the fact that it’s available on phones from every price range means that essentially anyone can get, and use, a smartphone thanks to Android.
The company also shared a few other numbers. RCS, which Google has been pushing as a replacement for SMS texts and as a multi-device and multi-carrier solution for messaging, is currently strong at 500 million monthly active globally, and growing fast. At that announcement, Google didn’t waste the chance to throw a dig at Apple, saying that the company hopes “every mobile operating system gets the message” and makes the move to RCS.
As for Android tablets, which Google has made a point to refocus on after the launch of Android 12L, they are also going strong. The company has confirmed there are currently over 270 million active large-screen Android devices — this number is clearly dwarfed by Android smartphones, but if Google’s ongoing efforts to bring things up to speed pay off, we’ll see this number grow over the coming years.
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