By 
According to a recent tweet by Andy Rubin, Android device activations now exceed 500,000 per day. That’s an increase of at least 100,000 handsets and tablets each day since the last tally of 400,000 was given in May at Google I/O. That isn’t too big of a surprise after taking into account that the figure is growing by 4.4 percent week over week, according to Rubin. The new stats continue a trend that has seen Android explode in popularity from virtual non-contender to leader of the smartphone pack in a span of less than two years.
The huge success of Android must bring a great sense of satisfaction to Andy Rubin. His work on Android started long before Google bought up the fledgling mobile OS and gave it the backing it needed to create a global phenomenon. More recently, Rubin’s efforts leading up the Android team resulted in a promotion to senior vice president at Google.
[via Twitter | Thanks, Fayez]
I think what they fail to mention is that some or a lot of these activations are people that are already using their android phone. If I travel to a different part of the country, I dial *22890 to reactivate my phone to have it point to the best towers for that area. Makes a world of difference in call quality.
Actually, that’s what Jobs said in a keynote, and google came back with a statement saying they were all new activations
if you look at the phones sold stats…it backs up his claim. smartphone sales are growing…and android activation are growing.
coincidence?
These are actually all NEW device activations. Each counted only once. And more than that, it only includes the ‘With Google” branded devices – not the multitude of ones without Market etc. The actual figure if you included these would be even higher!
But the term “New device activation” is also woolly depending on how a new activation is counted. There’s at least a half dozen ways I can come up with off the top of my head.
What if they use IMEI numbers?
Yeah they use a hardware identifier of some kind, perhaps IMEI. Anyone who is honestly still trying to suggest that the figures must be fudged somehow is clutching at straws.
These are activations to the Google Services, not *22890…
I do. I switched from iOS to android. Why are you even trolling an android fan site? Seriously do you feel that bad about your purchase?
was gonna say the same
It’s just impressive…. nothing more to say!
I’ve been a great supporter of Android even before the G1 was released. I’m now on my 5th Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S 2) and I’m loving it more than ever. As proud as I am over the 500k activations a day, I’m still curious as to how they come up with this figure. Are these new activations or just any activations? If they are new activations then what determines a new activation? Is it a new Google account being used on an Android phone for the first time? Or a new handset being turned on and activated for the first time? There’s so many variables and combinations that it’s difficult to see what 500k activations a day really mean. Either way, it’s an impressive figure and is very in line with the increasing market share figures also released each month. I know Apple also release activations per day figures too but comparing this is pointless unless they the meaning of “activation” is determined the same way. I have noticed that Apple have stopped releasing activation figures since Android overtook them on these figures.
I think if any company could figure these type of stats out, it would be Google.
FULL ACK
Yeah there’s no way that statistic is correct, because at that rate there would be 5 and half billion activations in one year. It’s nice to see android doing well though.
500,000 x 365 = 182,500,000
technically, if we assume 400k activations per day in the week of 5/15/2011 and also assume that each week, that daily number grows by 4.4% then by 5/15/2012, total activations for that year would be 559,856,927.
I know those assumptions are unacceptably weak in confidence. It’s highly likely the actual figure will be at least 25% in either direction. Here is my work:
https://spreadsheets0.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AkQF2HbtcIHjdDJFS3plZGsxVU42LUtNa2NFZFFZaVE&output=html
Wow
Also some users like the ones that read Andoid blogs are activating a new device every time they install a new custom ROM.
Well Googles still on the come up.
In your eye Apple
I would have said, “In your eye, Apple … pie”
Does anyone know if flashing custom roms reactivates your phone? I know Google’s numbers are for new activations–this is just a question that came to mind.
around 1 percent flash roms, 99 percent of the population don’t flash roms or even heard about roms
Ok, but that still doesn’t answer my question, “Does anyone know if flashing custom roms reactivates your phone”. I’ve flashed CM6 on my Hero. After I deactivated it and moved to At&t I gave the phone to a friend and Sprint said they couldn’t activate a phone with a custom rom.
Yes. I would say that still accounts as an activation. In the grand scheme of things does 1% even make a dent in 1/2 a million? Nope.
No, just IMEI activation counts, Rubin said so at the IO – dont talk if you dont know exacly maaaan
Amazing. If the 4.4% w/w increase continues, El Goog will be activating 1 million new Android phones per day in about four months. That’s just nuts.
how many de-activations are there /??? lolol
Who the heck do you think reads this site?
What are you doing here? Get the heck away from here, we dont like your kind (iFanboys) . Lolol
If iOS is boasting that it has 200 Million devices then working on these numbers Android should activate the same number in just over 5 months.
And that’s not taking into account the growth rate or the already-out-there androids (already well beyond all ios devices).
iOS activation numbers cannot be compared to android because they also include the ipod touch. Which isnt a mobile phone.
Just because it sells more, doesn’t mean it’s the best.
You may be right, but the same thing could have been said about Apple when these sort of numbers were largely in their favor.
The fact that it sells more means that developer momentum will focus on it.
Also, I think it is the best. Can you name something better? (With *compelling* reasons why?)
Developer momentum? Is that why the best and biggest developers develop for iOS first? Does it explain how iOS has the much better looking and performing apps?
Don’t talk in absolutes just because you want it to be true. All we’ve heard from Android users for a couple years is how developers will be focusing more on Android because of the growth, yet it still hasn’t translated to equality in apps between Android and iOS. I was fooled into buying my Nexus S because I thought the platform was mature now, but it’s still incredibly behind in app support. Yes, 2nd place isn’t bad among mobile devices, but there’s a huge gap between 1st and 2nd.
I personally know of 2 developers that switched from developing for iOS first to android first recently, not only because android has the market share, but also because of the programming languages. Java, atleast in my opinion is much easier to develop with over objective c.
Also, now that 2.3.3 has hardware support, i really believe the momentum will swing. In fact, if i had to guess, i would say that the majority of developers will be developing for android first before next year. It makes fiscal sense to do so..
Better looking apps? Who cares? I want softmaker office on a phone so that I can do real stuff on the go. iWork is just not going to cut it.
So wait, you left the ‘best’ platform for Android? I wonder why? Your words and your actions don’t seem to mesh.
I don’t give a crap how an app looks, just that it works. Bubbly, girly animations don’t impress me. Android has everything that I’ve needed so far. If Apple never existed I wouldn’t care. Oh and I’ve been there – had a 3g for a year before I saw the light.
First, I never mentioned what platform I came from. Second, I never called the previous platform I used the “best”
App design obviously matters. Apple has better design overall throughout the OS and in the apps all the developers make. For example of terrible design in Android, let’s say I’m texting a friend. I switch over to twitter to read my feed and then I want to text another friend. I switch back to the messaging app and I’m still in the conversation which I was having before. In order to switch to another thread, I have to press Menu -> More -> and then All Threads. Many times I cannot just click the back button because I will be taken to Twitter or the app I was viewing before I switched over. In iOS, I just click one button to go back every single time. Three clicks vs One. It’s little things like this that make me appreciate Apple’s design process and philosophy a hell of a lot more than Android’s.
Compare any of the games and apps which are available on both platforms. It’s obvious which looks better. And funny you say you just care”that it works”. I get so many more FCs and crashes in Android apps than I do on my iPad. Luckily I have a Nexus S so I can run most of the stuff out there, but many other Android devices suffer from fragmentation and are left behind to become worthless. Look at how buggy Facebook was for 2-3 months just a little while ago. When their iOS app has bugs, they send out fixes immediately. They don’t even care fixing their Android stuff. I was getting FCs everytime I would even click on a friends profile for a couple months. And this is from a company who has one of the biggest mobile app user bases that exist today.
Ever heard of the “home” button?
my wife just made the jump to the dark side this weekend, she’s sportin the Droid Charge! Matter of fact, ive also had my brother, couple of friends, brother in law, sister in law and her husband all join in the android wagon. BUT, i gotta give props to my other brother who hooked me when he got his G1 on Tmo back a few years ago