Animoca has released its network data for November 2012 and it shows that, at least among Animoca users, newer versions of Android are rapidly gaining market share.

As recently as October, number for newer Android versions were disappointingly low. We reported that combined, all versions of Android 4 only accounted for 25.5% of the market. Android 2.3 Gingerbread, in comparison, accounted for 55.8% of the market.

On Friday, Animoca, a publisher of games and entertainment apps for Android devices, released some encouraging news. Among its users in the U.S., 46.1% were using Android 4.0 or higher. Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich is the biggest single version, claiming a 31.4% share of Animoca users, while Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread still manages to cling to 21.5% of users.

In addition to information about the various versions of Android its users are running, Animoca also shared the five most popular phones among its users. The Samsung Galaxy S3 claimed the top spot, followed by the Galaxy S2. The LG Motion came in third, with the Motorola DROID RAZR and HTC EVO 4G claiming the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

As time marches on and Google releases newer versions of Android, it's obvious that older versions of the OS are going to fall by the wayside, but this recent surge in users of more recent versions of Android is still interesting. Of course, this is a relatively small subset of users: those who use Animoca apps and reside within the U.S.

Do you think that the apparent increase in users running Android 4.0 and up is simply due to the small sample size? Or do you think that there is another reason why more users are starting to run newer versions of Android?