“Android will separate into a high and a low end with the two having less and less to do with each other”, he suggested, writing on his website. Gingerbread, the code-name for Android version 2.3.x, runs on 45 per cent of Android-powered devices even though it’s at least two years old, but surprisingly, Windsor predicts this share may actually increase.
What makes a low-end Android gadget such a crappy experience? The cheapo hardware can’t keep up with the demands of the software, we’re told. Android is already fragmenting into Google-branded and non-Google-branded worlds, particularly in China. We’ve noticed that upcoming communications powerhouse Huawei makes Google almost invisible on its flagship smartphones.