It’s only been a few months since we learned Android hit 850,000 devices activated every day — but now that number has grown to 900,000 per day, Google’s Android head Andy Rubin tweeted yesterday.
With that announcement, it looks like Google is on track to hit 1 million daily Android activations by the end of this year, which we’ve been expecting for some time. The 900K figure falls in line with projections made by analyst Horace Dediu several months ago (see graph below), who said that Android could hit the 1 million mark by mid-August.
Now, more than ever, it’s clear that Android will continue to rule the mobile market in terms of overall volume — but that doesn’t mean all is well for Google’s mobile platform. Given just how well the iPhone continues to sell in the U.S., I figure many of Google’s Android activations come from cheap low-end Android devices in emerging markets. Google still has to prove Android tablets can truly take on the iPad, and it’s going to get even stiffer competition this year from Windows 8 tablets.
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Rubin, a rather infrequent Twitter user with only 11 tweets so far, chimed in yesterday to deny rumors that he was leaving Google. He was responding to a post by tech personality Robert Scoble, who claimed he heard that Rubin was headed to a young startup called CloudCar. Rubin later explained on Google+ that he gives free office space to CloudCar in his Los Altos incubator (along with another company, Revel Touch), but he has no plans to join them.
Via The Verge; Photo via Lai Ryanne
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