Sustained Leadership: The Competition and Strategies Behind Extended System Update Cycles for Smartphones

Sustained Leadership: The Competition and Strategies Behind Extended System Update Cycles for SmartphonesRecently, iQOO announced an extra year of system updates for its 2023 flagship, the iQOO 12, extending its total system update lifespan to Android 18 (equivalent to Android 14 plus four further versions) and providing five years of security updates. This move secured a "refill" for the iQOO 12's appeal

Sustained Leadership: The Competition and Strategies Behind Extended System Update Cycles for Smartphones

Recently, iQOO announced an extra year of system updates for its 2023 flagship, the iQOO 12, extending its total system update lifespan to Android 18 (equivalent to Android 14 plus four further versions) and providing five years of security updates. This move secured a "refill" for the iQOO 12's appeal. However, against the backdrop of Samsung's commitment to at least seven years of system and security updates for its S25 (and S24) series, iQOO still has room for improvement. Samsung's move represents a recent trend in the mobile phone industry offering ultra-long system update support.

Historically, apart from Apple's long-term system updates for iPhones, most manufacturers typically offered only one major system update or 24 months of updates. Some manufacturers even obfuscated the concept of "updates," substituting Google's security patches for genuine system and feature updates. So, just how important are system updates?

The Truth About System Updates: More Than Just Incrementing Version Numbers

For users, system updates mean getting the latest system version and features; but for manufacturers, they are far more complex than simply "version number + 1." Phone system updates generally fall into three categories: system updates, feature updates, and security updates.

System updates are straightforward the incremental annual updates to the Android operating system. For developers, a new system kernel means more APIs are available, enabling more innovative app features.

Feature updates refer to updates outside the core system components. Initially, system and feature updates were clearly distinct. However, with the advancement of Google's Project Mainline, more and more core system components are being replaced with external applications, blurring the lines between system and feature updates, even causing confusion. Previously, updates required going into settings and restarting; now, they can often be done through an app store.

Security updates, analogous to security patches on computer systems, are often overlooked. Google typically releases an Android Security Bulletin on the first week of each month, listing fixed vulnerabilities and pushing security updates to its own Pixel phones and other Android manufacturers. Manufacturers then push these updates based on their own timelines. However, "actual needs" often correlate with phone positioning: flagships usually receive monthly security updates promptly, while low-to-mid-range phones often receive updates only every three or six months. Many users' Android security updates might be months behind, highlighting the deceptive practice of some manufacturers using security updates as a substitute for system and feature updates.

Extended Update Cycles: A Joint Effect of Market Shifts and Technological Advancements

Why have manufacturers started prioritizing the user experience of older phones and offering longer update commitments in recent years? This is closely linked to changes in the smartphone replacement cycle.

In 2015, the global average smartphone replacement cycle was approximately 24 months; in 2020, it extended to 27 months. However, it jumped to 43 months in 2022 and further increased to 51 months in 2024. Although domestic consumers in China have a higher replacement frequency than the global average, the domestic replacement cycle also increased from 24 months to 36 months over the past five years.

Longer replacement cycles and lower replacement frequencies mean a higher proportion of "older phones" in the market. Manufacturers must focus on this user base and prioritize their experience, which is the fundamental reason why manufacturers are now pushing the latest Android versions to older devices.

Furthermore, the overabundance of hardware performance in Android phones makes "old hardware + new system" possible. Project Mainline has also reduced the difficulty for manufacturers to provide new features to older phones. Features are separated into independent apps, no longer dependent on core system updates.

In recent years, manufacturers have focused on AI, and system updates primarily reflect advancements in AI features. The hybrid model architecture of on-device and cloud-based AI reduces the demand for local hardware. Some phones even use browsers to access external computing power for AI functions, further reducing the difficulty of "porting" new features to older phones.

Separating non-core system functions into independent apps also reduces the issue of phones slowing down over time. Reasons for phone slowdown include accumulating background processes, increased system resource consumption, and storage fragmentation. Early system updates required modifying the underlying architecture, increasing the hardware burden, and causing older phones to become slower after updates. However, with feature separation, camera algorithms, input methods, and voice assistants no longer depend on system updates. Manufacturers can more flexibly package system functions, avoiding the resource consumption of full system updates and improving long-term phone fluidity.

Future Trends: More Refined, Modular System Updates

It's foreseeable that as phone lifespans increase, manufacturers will further intensify competition in software. System updates will shift from "major version" iterations to a more granular, modular approach: on one hand, separating low-level drivers and functional components to minimize the impact on older models; on the other hand, leveraging cloud-based AI computing power to allow older devices to access richer new features.

Offering ultra-long system updates also reflects a shift in the competitiveness of smartphones. As the pace of hardware technology development slows, competitiveness has shifted from a "performance-only" focus to a "long-term user experience" focus. The subsequent user experience has become a crucial factor in consumer purchasing decisions; nobody wants their new phone to become obsolete quickly.

In the future, manufacturers will continue to engage in intense competition in system updates: larger updates will be more refined, smaller updates more frequent, and users will feel more of the manufacturers' commitment. From "two years lag-free" to "five years of updates," this is undoubtedly good news for consumers.