Why Do Androids Get Obsolete Pretty Quickly?

30.12.11 The Reporter 0 Comments

Gadgets, as a rule, have a short shelf life. For one, the manufacturing companies are on the move to get people to constantly buy, upgrade, and buy some more. Mobile machine companies have one drive: to get people to upgrade, constantly, and then in the biggest, costliest way possible.

That is why none of us should be surprised that Androids are "obsolete" within a quarter of a year.

The reason is that companies follow release cycles and move towards releasing a new gadget by that deadline date. Apple has set the trend with that, and now, all the other tech companies are following suit.

One thing that holds up a company from releasing their machines on a speedy cycle would be dismal sales. Take a look at Acer. What once was a strong biannial release schedule has now become a fading, nonexistent release cycle. Credit it to the fact that they must have had quite a lot of refunds and repairs owing to the dismal quality of their products, or possibly, the fact that they are repositioning:

• Less quantity, more quality Android devices catching on; Acer joining the pack
• Acer won't give up on tablets and smartphones, will have fewer models

Either way, Acer is among those who are moving towards a more conservative outlook for now. For the big players, one trend seems to underline their operations: a speedy release cycle.

If you note, it was barely a month into the Samsung Galaxy Y landing with a blast onto Philippine Android shores when Samsung already announced the Dual-SIM version of the phone. We don't even have the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro in sight yet, and yet its Dual-SIM version is already announced for release, by Q1, 2012.

In other news, HTC is also playing the speedy-release game. Just close on the heels of each other, the HTC Sensation XE, HTC Sensation XL, HTC Rhyme, and HTC Rezound all got unleashed on different markets worldwide. While it will definitely take more time for the newer-release HTC Androids to reach Philippine shores, you can't help but admire the way HTC turns out its phones like pancakes, obviously working hard to keep up with Samsung, which has already flooded the market with its plethora of Samsung Galaxy models.

And we have barely even recovered from the craze over the Samsung Galaxy SII:


Next week, a note on why it would still rock if RIM hung around a lot longer. Like Motorola.