This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.
Android smartphones suffer from a significantly higher number of failure rates than iOS devices, according to a new report from Blanco Technology Group.
In the first quarter of 2016, Android devices recorded a failure rate of 44% compared to a 25% device failure rate for iPhones. Android’s failure rate was especially high for devices in Asia, which accounted for 55% of Android device crashes globally, up slightly from 50% in Q4 2015. This was followed by Europe with 35% and North America with 27%.
Samsung devices accounted for a plurality (43%) of device failures during Q1 2016. In particular, the Galaxy S6 and S5 were the most common devices to suffer from system crashes, with failure rates of 7% and 6%, respectively. The Lenovo K3 Note (6%), Motorola MotoG (5%), and Samsung S6 Active (4%) rounded out the top five Android devices with the highest failure rates.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 6 and 5s had the highest failure rates of iPhones, accounting for 25% and 17% respectively. While this number seems higher than Android devices; this was due to there being fewer models, as well as a lower overall failure rate.
The significant difference in overall performance of Android devices should be concerning to original equipment manufacturers. As consumers become more dependent on their smartphones to complete everyday activities, device failures such as those reported will become an important factor in which brands consumers choose.
Furthermore, if a particular platform is singled out as being less reliable than another, app developers may be less likely to build for that ecosystem. Crashing apps were detected on 74% of Android devices, with communication and social apps being the main perpetrators of app crashing. However, this may also be an effect of high usage rates. Communication and social apps are among the most used apps on smartphones.
The smartphone market has expanded from a small and limited business in some regions to a large and robust ecosystem that spans the globe, and Android has emerged as the single-largest smartphone platform. Android has 1.4 billion monthly active users on its smartphones and tablets thanks to its enormous selection and ability to appeal to numerous segments of the smartphone consumer market.
Despite its success, Android faces an uncertain future. Due to its open-source variants, the Android ecosystem is highly fragmented, which presents numerous issues in terms of security and app development. As key smartphone markets shift from developed regions like the US and China to emerging markets like India and Brazil, Google will try to maintain its control of Android via its Android One project, while third-party vendors will push regionalized versions of Android to better cater to new consumer markets.
Jessica Smith, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on Android that sizes up the current Android platform and examines its greatest opportunities and challenges in key markets. It also explores the effects of fragmentation on Android, the limitations it presents to growing segments of the Android ecosystem, such as Android Wear and Android Pay, and discusses how its massive growth is presenting challenges to mobile advertisers and app developers looking to reach Android's large user base.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:
In full, the report:
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of Android.