Every two weeks or so, Google updates their “Developer Dashboard” with data about the type of Android devices that access the Google Play Store. The latest figures show that 4% of Android devices with access to the Play Store are running the very latest version of the OS, Android 4.2. Another 29% are running Android 4.1. Considering that both 4.1 and 4.2 share the same codename (Jelly Bean), it’s safe to say that 33% of all Androids have the latest version of the OS.

Looking at Android 2.3 Gingerbread however, a version of Android that was first announced in December 2010, that’s still running on 36.5% of all Android devices. That’s pretty crazy when you think about it, though it’s wrong to assume it’s the fault of two year contracts since most Android devices are sold in countries where people pay full retail prices for their phones. Could it be a strong second hand market that’s keeping these old handsets in use?

What’s really important here, and something that gets missed a lot, is the huge number of Android devices sold in emerging markets that have no Google services installed whatsoever. Chinese companies take the Android source code, install it on some cheap no-name device, and then load it up with third party app stores that are either region specific or filled with pirated apps. Those devices don’t count in these statistics, despite the fact that millions of them are produced every quarter.

Something to keep in mind.