<s>
Fragmentation	B-Application
in	O
a	O
technology	O
market	O
happens	O
when	O
a	O
market	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
multiple	O
highly-incompatible	O
technologies	O
or	O
technology	B-Application
stacks	I-Application
,	O
forcing	O
prospective	O
buyers	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
product	O
to	O
commit	O
to	O
an	O
entire	O
product	B-Application
ecosystem	I-Application
,	O
rather	O
than	O
maintaining	O
free	O
choice	O
of	O
complementary	O
products	O
and	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
common	O
varieties	O
of	O
fragmentation	B-Application
are	O
market	B-Application
fragmentation	I-Application
and	O
version	O
fragmentation	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fragmentation	B-Application
is	O
the	O
opposite	O
of	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
solved	O
by	O
standardization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Market	B-Application
fragmentation	I-Application
happens	O
when	O
multiple	O
competing	O
firms	O
offer	O
highly-incompatible	O
technologies	O
or	O
technology	B-Application
stacks	I-Application
,	O
likely	O
leading	O
to	O
vendor	O
lock-in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
fragmentation	B-Application
happens	O
when	O
a	O
firm	O
offers	O
multiple	O
incompatible	O
versions	O
or	O
variations	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
product	O
,	O
either	O
in	O
tandem	O
or	O
over	O
time	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
accumulated	O
changes	O
to	O
product	O
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
term	O
being	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
Android	B-Application
development	O
community	O
is	O
Android	B-Application
fragmentation	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fragmentation	B-Application
within	O
Android	B-Application
is	O
when	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
Android	B-Application
platform	I-Application
,	O
combined	O
with	O
a	O
mixture	O
of	O
hardware	O
result	O
in	O
the	O
inability	O
for	O
some	O
devices	O
to	O
properly	O
run	O
certain	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
Google	B-Application
upgrading	O
its	O
Android	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
to	O
version	O
4.4	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
KitKat	O
,	O
users	O
continued	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
earlier	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
primarily	O
Gingerbread	B-Application
(	O
that	O
's	O
down	O
to	O
0.3	O
%	O
share	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2010	O
,	O
developers	O
of	O
the	O
OpenSignal	B-Application
wireless	O
crowd-sourcing	O
app	O
detected	O
3,997	O
distinct	O
values	O
for	O
"	O
android.build.MODEL	O
"	O
among	O
users	O
of	O
their	O
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenSignal	B-Application
acknowledged	O
that	O
while	O
this	O
made	O
it	O
problematic	O
to	O
develop	O
apps	O
,	O
the	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
models	O
allows	O
Android	B-Application
to	O
enter	O
more	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	O
have	O
placed	O
the	O
blame	O
on	O
Google	B-Application
and	O
the	O
hardware	O
manufacturers	O
,	O
while	O
Google	B-Application
has	O
blamed	O
software	O
developers	O
for	O
not	O
staying	O
within	O
the	O
guidelines	O
of	O
its	O
terms	O
and	O
conditions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
issue	O
with	O
fragmentation	B-Application
has	O
forced	O
Google	B-Application
to	O
add	O
a	O
prohibition	O
to	O
its	O
terms	O
and	O
conditions	O
for	O
its	O
software	B-Application
development	I-Application
kit	I-Application
,	O
which	O
developers	O
must	O
accept	O
before	O
developing	O
for	O
the	O
Android	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
OpenSignal	B-Application
and	O
Testdroid	B-Application
studies	O
have	O
found	O
out	O
that	O
OEMs	O
fragment	O
Android	B-Application
ecosystem	O
significantly	O
more	O
than	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
