It has been estimated that over 42 million Android phone contracts were sold this Christmas, with a substantial amount of these likely to have been Christmas presents. The Guardian used figures released by Google showing the total number of unique devices accessing Android Market during the month of December, which suggests that the total number of Android smartphones in use could be in the region of 280 million.
But using the number of activated Android devices announced by Google at the start of November 2011 (200 million) and adding to that the 700,000 daily activations reported by Google towards the end of December, market analysts Enders Analysis only came to a figure of 230 million. What this calculation does not take into consideration is that the number of daily activations probably increased dramatically in the run up to Christmas, peaking on Christmas day.
If these figures are correct it means that the number of Android users increased by 17% during December. The information used by the Guardian was based on reports about the spread of different Android versions across the market, and this revealed one interesting piece of information. As the only device to currently run Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the figures show that about 1.7 million Galaxy Nexus phones were sold during the final month of 2011.
The difference between the results of the Guardian and those of Enders Analysis, a difference of around 50 million, shows that this is not an exact science. On the other hand, it does show that Android continues to grow at a rapid pace despite stiff competition from the iPhone/iPad and, increasingly, Windows Phone devices like the Nokia Lumia.
The increased number of Android activations taking place prior to Christmas has also been felt in other places too, with the social network Google Plus seeing a significant increase in membership. Many websites have noticed more people Google Plussing their websites and content within the last couple of weeks.
The number of estimated sales for the Galaxy Nexus come as a bit of a surprise for a phone that has largely been overshadowed by the iPhone 4S. Many expected the Apple phone to be a primary stocking filler in 2011, and even Apple smugly anticipated that this would push iPhone sales over 30 million.
Although the 1.7 million Galaxy Nexus activations are not on the same level as the 30 million iPhone sales, it does show that the phone is still performing well despite questions regarding its signal quality and Face Unlock feature. This latter feature of Ice Cream Sandwich will likely become a more common sight on smartphones in 2012, as it has just emerged that Apple had filed for a facial recognition patent last summer. Not yet available for Apple lovers, this feature may make an appearance on the iPhone 5 and iPad 3.
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