After 7 months of its release, the percentage of Android OS 4.0, dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich, on Android devices is finally growing. Google has released a comparison chart of different version of Android OS. Android 4.0 market share has increased but still it occupies just 5 percent of market. Why?

Android 4.0 market share has improved significantly over the past 4 weeks. At the end of March, only 2.9 percent of Android devices were powered by Android 4.0. But now, ICS runs on 4.9 percent of Android devices. On the other hand, Android 2.3 Gingerbread continues to dominate the Android market with 64.4 percent of market share. Android 2.2 Froyo is the runner-up with 20.9 percent control over Android market. The tablet-centered Android 3.0 Honeycomb represents 3.3 percent of Android world.

The figures are embarrassing for Android 4.0. It has been around for nearly 7 months ever since Google released the source code for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but the latest Android OS is still struggling to get to the second position, if not at first. Currently, Android 4.0 ICS is at the fourth spot in terms of Android smartphone OS market share. Even Android 2.1 Éclair beat ICS with its 5.5 percent control over Android market.

Android app developers are working hard to extend the support of their respective apps to Android 4.0. But Android manufacturers seem to be busy in rolling out more devices in the market rather than updating their existing smartphones and tablets with Ice Cream Sandwich.

However, there is another reason why OEMs are taking long to release ICS updates on their respective Android devices. Technically, Android 4.0 is different than older versions in its design principles. Unlike its predecessors, ICS can run on both smartphones and tablets. Reportedly, Google has also abandoned some design principles in Android 4.0. Due to conflicts with Oracle over Java patent infringements, Google has to leave out 1,040 lines of Android source code out of Android 4.0.

But the good news is that the future of Ice Cream Sandwich looks bright. A big credit goes to recent ICS updates that respective manufacturers have released and introduction of new smartphones in the market that run Android ICS out of the box. HTC has released the One series of smartphones that run Android ICS and Samsung Galaxy S3 is on the way. With more and more manufactures aiming to launch ICS-powered device in the market, Android 4.0 market share is expected to jump up significantly in ongoing quarter.

(reported by Johnny Wills, edited by Dave Clark)