The flagship OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R launched in India a few days ago. These smartphones offer better cameras, software and features than last year’s OnePlus 11 series. However, the company has maintained the same five-year software update policy for the OnePlus 12 lineup as the previous series. While rivals Google (Google) and Samsung (Samsung) have announced that their Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy S24 series will provide software updates for seven years. OnePlus’ COO and president, Kinder Liu, compared smartphones to sandwiches in an interview, explaining why his company is still stuck with five years of software updates. Let’s find out what he really meant by this simile.
Why does OnePlus offer 5 years of software support on their flagships?
According to Kinder Liu, a seven-year software update cycle isn’t a big deal, as smartphone user experience standards begin to decline after three to four years. Even leading research platform Statista revealed in a report that 61% of Indian smartphone users are inclined to upgrade their smartphones after two years of use. The main reason behind switching to a new phone is that their current phone isn’t working as well as it used to, which matches Kinder Liu’s statement.
In an interview Kinder Liu Said that if a smartphone is considered a sandwich, then the filling of the sandwich is the phone’s software. Now some manufacturers are now claiming that their fillings will remain edible for seven years. But they’re avoiding the bread in the sandwich, the user experience, which starts to deteriorate after four years.
So now the question is, why is there so much talk about the seven-year Android update cycle offered on Google and Samsung’s latest flagships? One of the reasons is that iPhones have a great resale value compared to Android phones due to long software support. This allows buyers to enjoy the latest software experience for a few more years even on used phones. With guaranteed seven-year software updates, Samsung and Google are trying to beat Apple on the resale side.
