Screenshot 2018-10-15 00.03.39.jpg

The original Google Pixel

Despite being released on August 6, as of September 28 Android 9 Pie was yet to break the 0.1% adoption barrier. However, according to Google’s Senior Vice President of Hardware, Rick Osterloh, it’s a whole different story when it comes to Pixel devices.

In response to the news that iOS 12 had reached a 50% adoption rate across all iPhones and iPads since its launch less than a month ago, Osterloh revealed that Android Pie is currently installed on over 75% of all active Android-powered Pixel devices. This statistic essentially means that iOS and Pixel users update their devices at very similar paces. After all, although iOS 12 has taken less than one month to reach the 50% milestone, the number of users upgrading over the course of its second month of release is set to drop considerably, which means a similar install rate of 75% is to be expected by mid-November.

According to an IDC report from earlier this year, Google sold 1.95 million Pixel smartphones in 2016 and a further 3.9 million throughout 2017. This puts the total number of Pixel devices at 5.85 million without considering 2018 sales which will presumably be higher.

Obviously, some people will have since upgraded, so the active number of Pixel devices will naturally not match the number of units shipped. However, if Osterloh’s claims of a 75% adoption rate are indeed accurate, Android 9 Pie should officially make its debut when the next Android distribution figures are released. In fact, it may even be a relatively strong debut because, in addition to Pixel smartphones, the OnePlus 6, Nokia 7 Plus, and Sony Xperia XZ2 have all received the update. Moreover, sales of the Xperia XZ3 recently commenced too.