One of the biggest differences between Android and iOS a few years ago was the update policy. By controlling Apple both the hardware and the software of its mobiles could cause their terminals to be updated for a longer time, which in principle was positive for its users.
Samsung first and Google later got on this idea, offering no less than 7 years of updates in many of their mobiles. The Spaniards do not endure so much time without changing mobile. Moreover, no other country does so generalized.
This strategy focused on offering the user a reason for not having to change your mobile and be able to endure more time with the same terminal, but the reality is that People who keep the same mobile so long (although weird is the case that they reach 7 years), It is not the one that values having the latest updates.
The free android
For the average user, System or applications updates are not an advantage. They are a minor evil to live with. They do not enjoy when new functions appear or the interface changes.
Rather they frustrate and complain that things are no longer in the same place. They are not compensated if the mobile is slightly more efficient, or the prettiest interface. They just want to use it as a tool.
Mobile change
The most technology fans do value that, but They won’t be so long without changing mobile. Basically because being a hobby they will buy a new one long before the end of their useful life arrives. In Spain it is normal to change mobile every 3 or 4 years, and it is already an increase in time with respect to 2 years ago.
On the other hand, the limitation of use will not come so much by software and hardware. A terminal from seven years can be functional if it was a high -end mobile, but It is rare for a battery to last so much. Yes, it can be changed, but it is a price that sometimes not everyone is willing to pay, even if it is not an especially expensive replacement.
A mobile updating the operating system version
The free android
Besides, The amount of internal memory that is enough now perhaps it is not in 5 yearsbeing necessary, again, a change before the software stops updating. What is something positive is that those years of updates occur in security patches.
On this occasion we do not talk about software improvements, new functions or aesthetic changes, but correct vulnerabilities that maybe they can give problems To users in the future, although at the time of sale of the mobile they did not know each other.
Partial updates
There are cases in which mobile phones do not admit certain functions due to hardware limitationsand even if the new versions of Android arrive, they will do it partially, with eliminated characteristics, which can be a problem or nuisance for the users of those mobiles, which are treated as second -category buyers. And the brand’s reputational damage is not less.
And it may not even be a manufacturer’s problembut that any of the companies that design the components does not support for so long. You have to be aware that within a mobile there are elements of dozens of different brands, and not all have to follow the criteria of a company in question.
Yeah Mediatek either Qualcomm They do not want to keep their processors updated to be fully compatible with Android for 7 years, Google can hardly force them, or Samsung, already placed.
Price increase
The question is, although they are not used. What is the problem with the manufacturers to offer 7 years of updates? In principle there is no problem, but Yes, it can lead to an expense, because the brand has to impact the money that will cost to update a mobile for seven yearswith what this implies in salaries, servers, image problems if there are cuts in benefits … and all that must have an impact on the sale price to the public.
This is because on Android the updates are not chargedThey are free. It has not always been like that in operating systems, and Windows is the best example.
But although charging for updates could be a way to reduce the price of mobile phones, the reality is that it would open a path that surely should not be traveled, because we all know what happens when a company begins to charge for some software function: that prices only rise.
And speaking of prices that go up, it is logical Brands will have to get more benefit from each unit sold unless they have no problems earning less and less money, which would be extraordinarily weird.
And if we choose to sell a second -hand mobile, counting that I still have two or three years of updates, we can benefit from it, but the brand will not do, which does not get anything positive in that case.
