Every year around this time, as I prepare for another onslaught of Samsung leaks, rumors, and eventual reveals and reviews, I try to take a look back at the company's update track record — and I'm always disappointed. Just this week, Samsung announced that its extended and relatively exclusive Oreo beta is ending, which means that an update to Android 8.0 is imminent for devices like the Galaxy S8, S8+, and Note 8. Great. But I've been using Oreo since August on devices like the original Pixel, and a good chunk of the phones on my office desk, including some that shipped with the latest version, have been enjoying Oreo since well before Thanksgiving.

Year after year, the world's biggest phone manufacturer fails to deliver on its promise for timely software updates, and in doing so significantly depresses the overall tally in the process. Google can push updates to its Nexus and Pixel lineup as quickly as it wants (and it does), and companies like Sony, HTC, OnePlus and others can help make a dent, but it's not until Samsung begins its lumbering annual rollout that the tectonic shift begins anew. With Oreo still on under 1% of devices, that massive endeavor can't come quickly enough. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines It's not like Samsung is new to this game. Articles like this have been proffered since at least 2012, and the company has indeed improved the quality of its software output, but the stakes are just so much higher these days. Samsung increasingly owns the Android market, and its dominance puts the Android team at Google — separate from the Pixel hardware team — in a tenuous position. As we've seen from previews of Android 8.0 Oreo on the Galaxy S8, through the beta program, this particular update isn't nearly as significant an aesthetic or feature overhaul as last year's jump to Nougat was, and yet we're coming up on a year since Samsung began rolling that out. It didn't hit carriers in the U.S. until late February. What's your biggest annoyance with Android right now? — Android Central (@androidcentral) January 19, 2018 Earlier this month, we asked people what their biggest frustrations are with Android right now. The number one response by a wide margin? Lack of updates. With the Galaxy S9 being announced on February 25th, and an expected release date just three weeks later, on March 16th, it's clear that Samsung is using the availability of the latest version of Android as a selling feature. Forget the Galaxy S8 for a moment — most people updating to the S9 will be coming from an S6 or S7, which, in the case of the S6 series, won't receive Oreo at all, or receive it later this year, as promised to the S7 line. A jump to Android 8.0 out of the box, with all its performance improvements and additional features, is leverage that Samsung hopes to use to sell a few more phones.