Ice Cream Sandwich (right) vs Jelly Bean (left)

It’s March already, which means we have new stats from Google for the Android ecosystem, where Gingerbread is still king, at least according to new data collected by Google during the 14-day window ending on March 4.

Jelly Bean has climbed just over 3% compared to last month – now at 16.5% market share – although it’s worth pointing out that Android 4.1 is at 14.9% while the latest Android 4.2 version is only at 1.6% share.

Ice Cream Sandwich has dropped from 29% last month to 28.6% and Gingerbread is still very much in the picture, with Android 2.3.3-2.3.7 accounting for 44% of the Android OS pie.

Slowly, manufacturers are updating compatible phones to Jelly Bean – most of these updates are only Android 4.1.x upgradess for now – but also announcing new machines that will run Android 4.1.x out of the box.

Most Nexus devices have been updated to the latest Jelly Bean version, Android 4.2.2, but it will probably be a while until more devices will be updated to the latest Android version in a timely fashion.

To further diversify the Android environment, we expect Google to unveil Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie at Google I/O in mid-May and launch it in the following weeks – although nothing is official just yet about Google’s intentions regarding its next developers event.

What Android version are you running? Are you ready to drop your Gingerbread phone and replace it with a Jelly Bean one?

The post Android state: Jelly Bean goes up to 16.5%, Ice Cream Sandwich sees minimal drop, Gingerbread still king appeared first on Android Authority.