The problem is that three parties, all with different agendas, are involved when an update to Android is planned — Google, which writes the software, handset manufacturers whose devices will run the software, and the carriers.
“All three parties have to agree,” Carl Howe, a vice president of research at the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld. “Three companies can rarely decide when to schedule a joint press release, so it’s not surprising they’d struggle to coordinate software updates.”
The economic incentives for hardware makers and carriers are to sell new phones rather than update older ones, so “the consumer gets left with obsolete software,” Howe continued.