There are a large number of new-released smartphones which use the old operating system. Why do companies not adopt the latest Android OS? Figure it out in our article.

Why new phones coming with an outdated version of Android?

We recently saw three high-range smartphones launching in November: the Razer Phone, HTC U11+, and Oneplus 5T. These phones all have outstanding specs. However, excluding the HTC U11+, both OnePlus 5T and Razer Phone run on an old Android OS version. Android 8.0 Oreo was launched in August, and it has been three months since it was made available for all these big smartphone companies to adopt and install on their new phones. Why do companies not adopt the latest OS?

The main reason is the Android’s software licensing. Google only makes Android for the products they sell. On the other hand, they allow companies like Samsung and LG to build their operating system based on Android. However, it is expensive to build and test an operating system.  Precisely, to make Android work on their hardware, device manufacturers must write Android device drives for their hardware. Therefore, some companies choose the old version of Android to save money.

Besides that, the time it would take to stop production and update the software before selling phones would directly affect the amount of money a company makes from selling phones. It is certain that nobody in Samsung or LG or anyone else wants you to use an old software on your device, but as they have to update the system themselves, it takes a lot of time. And for them, time is equal to money.

Would all phones be updated to the latest Android OS?

Android 8.0 Oreo is currently available on only 0.3% Android phones. For some medium or high-range smartphones, users can update the OS system in the future. However, there are still some low-budget Android phones that cannot be upgraded.