Android 2.1 now in more than half of all Android phones

A pie chart on the Android developers web site shows the recent breakdown of market share for each individual build of Google's open source operating system. For the first time, Android 2.1 is in use on more than 50% of the Android flavored devices shoved in someone's pants pocket. Not only has many Android models upgraded to 2.1, most of the new mid to high end models are being launched with Android 2.1. Of course, many of the handsets now at 2.1 will be getting an update to 2.2. That is what happened to the Nexus One and it is the only model currently with Froyo, which owns a 3.3% market share as of the two weeks ending July 15th. With 22.1% of the pie, Android 1.6 follows Eclair, and the 1.5 build has a 18.9% piece of the market.

The other chart is a graphical look at what percentage of Android devices are compatible with a certain build. For example, if you are a developer and you produce an app for the build at the top of the chart (which is Android 1.5 and moves down to the more recent 2.2, the darker green sliver at the bottom), you will have support for 100% of Android devices. Use the X-axis to determine which build you aiming to produce an app for and then move over to the Y-Axis to see what percentage of Android phones you can reach. The figures are determined by the number of devices within a certain build that entered the Android Market during a two-week period ending with the date on the X-Axis.

source: Androiddevelopers