Cyanogen is definitely a force to reckon with and the company recently caused some stir when it claimed to have more users than Windows Mobile and BlackBerry combined. The statement was made by Adnan Begovic from Cyanogen this past Saturday and was shared by the company’s social media accounts meaning that its official communication.
In the statement, Adnan Begovic claimed that Cyanogen has more than 50 Million users globally and this according to them is more that Windows Phone and BlackBerry combined. This is quite impressive given that it has not been around for long but the question is, is this true?
To answer this, let’s first look at the brief history of Cyanogen.
Origin of Cyanogen
Cyanogen started out as a replacement OS for rooted Android handsets. The company grew rapidly and was very popular because of its levels of customization and by December 2013, its OS was installed in over 10 Million handsets. This rapid growth is what attracted some smartphone manufacturers who saw a chance to grow further by partnering with the company.
Partnerships
Cyanogen has partnered by manufactures such as OnePlus. With OnePlus, Cyanogen was the original OS in its first flagship device, the OnePlus One. The company’s OS also exclusively powered the Yu Yureka smartphones that are entry level smartphones available in India.
Compared to Windows and BlackBerry
Back to the statement that Cyanogen has more users than Windows Mobile and BlackBerry combined, is it true? The short answer is definitely no for Windows. According to wmpoweruser, Windows Phone had over 70.5 Million users by Q2 of 2015. This does not even include those who are still using the older Windows version. So from this, Windows is still pretty strong compared to Cyanogen.
Windows Mobile is not Windows Phone
You may argue that Begovic referred to Windows Mobile and not Windows Phone. If that is the case, he might be right. Windows Mobile is technically a dead OS, so why Cyanogen would be using it for reference is beyond me. May be they want to feel relevant in this space.
Source [wmpoweruser]
