Samsung’s most coveted smartphone to date; Galaxy S will not be updated to the latest version of Android, revealed the company a few days ago. The company has attributed this to technical constraints, saying that the phone does not have enough RAM or ROM to run Google’s new operating system along with the TouchWiz overlay provided by Samsung. However, many remain concerned about the validity of this reason believing this to be sheer carelessness on the company’s behalf.
Galaxy S has set a benchmark not only for Samsung’s smartphones, but also for the Android software itself by having sold 10 million units by the first seven months. It is now nearing its 20 million mark and this widespread popularity has prompted Google to build its latest Nexus S with the Galaxy S as its base.
Having been the top Samsung phone to be bought till this September, it is quite appalling that this phone shall not be upgraded to Android’s latest version, the Ice Cream Sandwich. Analysts have said that Galaxy S’s 1-GHz Cortex A8 processor and given RAM are suitable enough for ICS seeing as how similar phones such as the Nexus S and LG’s 600MHz Optimus have been put in line for an update.
While even older devices such as Motorola’s original Droid are running ICS now with help from the hacking community, Samsung staunchly stands by its claim of technical glitches. The company has been widely criticized for not supporting its customers once the sale of its products has been completed. While other top companies such as Apple and Microsoft believe in standing by their existing customers in the hope of gaining new ones for future products, Samsung sees itself as mainly as a hardware manufacturer putting issues such as these on the backburner.
This attitude may yet come to prove costly for the company. Companies such as Apple thrive on customer support and regular software updates and if Samsung wants to compete with the likes of the much-coveted iPhone, it must start living up to customers’ expectations and satisfactions and soon. Companies like Microsoft and Apple have been successful by creating an ecosystem which provides support for devices till the end of their lifespan, which can be as many as two to three years. For example, the first WP7 device from Microsoft is still receiving the latest WP 7.5 update, as are most of the older Apple devices. If Samsung wants to create a lasting legacy in the market, it may need to do the same.
