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Is it time to question the yearly release cycle for phones? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip to c/technology@lemmy.world

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So recently I've been seeing the trend where Android OEMs such as Google, Samsung, etc. have been extending their software release times up to like five, six, and seven years after device release. Clearly, phone hardware has gotten to the point where it can support software for that long, and computers have been in that stage for a very long time. From what I can tell, the only OEM that does this currently might be Fairphone.

Edit: The battery is the thing that goes the fastest so manufacturers could just offer new batteries and that would solve a lot of the problem.

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[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 75 points 3 weeks ago (9 children)

They could have always supported software for that long. They simply refused to.

There is no benefit to slowing the release cycle. All of the research gets done either way, all of the supply chain modifications get made either way, and as an individual you have no need to replace your phone every year. A multi-year release cycle does very little but screw over people who need a new phone during the wrong point in the release cycle, while also substantially complicating the supply chains by making demand much spikier.

[–] mkwt@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Compare with the yearly release cycle on cars.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

That is kind of my thought. Phone technology doesn't change drastically within two years and a car does not change drastically within two years.

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 weeks ago

But people are constantly buying millions of both, so makes sense to have small yearly updates and major revisions every few years.

Which is basically how both phones and cars are developed now.

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