A whopping 877,885,000 Android units were sold in the year 2013, as per the Gartner Inc., which is an American information technology research and advisory firm. Today, more than a million mobile devices, used in above 190 countries, are powered by Android OS! Thrilling! Isnt it? Being a world-class platform for applications, games, and other digital contents, Android is attracting flock of users on an everyday basis. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this open marketplace has also outshined the innovations of other market players, who pioneered the smartphone revolution, such as Microsoft's Windows as well as Apple's iOS and Mac OS.
An Open Marketplace For All Kinds Of Applications
Android uses Google Play as a base and a premier marketplace for selling, distributing and downloading apps. Google Play comes preinstalled on all the Android devices and an app that is published on it reaches a wide number of Android users all around the world. An apps developer can publish anything that he wants and as frequent as he wants so as to reach his targeted audience. Apps can be easily distributed broadly to all markets and devices or can be sold to specific segments, devices or hardware ranges. These apps can be categorized as priced, free or with in-app subscriptions that has helped the developers to monetize everything for highest engagements and revenues for their business. Google Play simply builds visibility and engagement of the apps as well as the brands. All the apps that attract a huge customer base and rise in popularity are placed by Google Play in the weekly "top" charts, rankings and promotional slots.
Global Partnerships
The fastest-growing mobile OS, Android has global partnerships with open-source Linux community as well as above 300 software, hardware and carrier partners. The growth in app consumption can be credited to its openness that has made it a favorite of both developers and consumers. With these global partnerships, the boundaries of hardware and software are continuously being pushed by android to introduce new capabilities to both users and developers.
A Powerful Development Framework
The single application model of Android provides best-in-class app experiences and helps in the deployment of apps broadly to millions of users and a wide range of devices right from phones to tablets. Android comes with Android Developer Tools that helps in developing an app efficiently. It offers full Java IDE along with advanced features for the development, debugging, and packaging of Android apps. With the help of Java IDE, an app can be developed on any Android device. Also, virtual devices can be created to emulate all hardware configurations.
According to the projections released by Gartner Inc., the worldwide market share of Android OS is expected to exceed one billion in 2014. Certainly, this will lead to a surge in demand for Android apps, which augurs a bright future for Android Application Development Companies all across the world.