Why are so many phones still launching with Froyo?

Frankly, laziness and a lack of market pressure. There aren't any real new features in GB, so there isn't urgency (though the recent security issue might change that) . And because there isn't market pressure, the huge companies that control the distribution have had plenty of time to add layer upon layer of 'process' that makes them feel in control and justify their jobs.

Add real market pressure, and management will shortcut the process to get to market faster.

 

Or probably manufacturers love to play God and watch their users beg for any updates that would seem like manna from heaven. LOL

 

Many Android phones have their own skin which require additional development time to get it working with a newer version of Android.

 

It generally takes about six months for a phone's development cycle from start to finish.

The last recent Froyo phones have development cycles that began when Gingerbread hasn't come about.

Motorola Atrix and LG Optimux 2X - launched February 2011. Gingerbread was only launched in December and made available to OEMs around November of 2010. That would have been too late for the Atrix and the Optimus 2X, both Winter release phones.

But note the spring release phones --- Xperia Play, Xperia Arc, Desire S, Galaxy SII, these are coming with Gingerbread. The Incredible S came with Froyo, but it already has a Gingerbread update coming out. More on that.

Gingerbread itself had many issues on 2.3.1 and 2.3.2. In fact, attempts for early upgrades by the Galaxy S and the Droid X in March and April was turned down by Google, the handset makers or the carriers. It was only 2.3.3 that was the first truly acceptable Gingerbread, and that is now the becoming the basis for the upgrades like to the Droid X and Galaxy S. The earliest non Google phone to ship with Gingerbread was the Xperia Play. Note it was delayed in April due to "software" issues. Re-equipped with 2.3.3, it is now shipping.

And yes, both the Incredible S and Desire HD now getting Gingerbread upgrade --- and yes, its 2.3.3. Future shipments of both phones are likely to ship with that OS version or 2.3.4 out of the box.

The only real valid upgrade for anyone is the latest but stable release. I myself keep my iPod Touch on iOS 4.2 until Apple fixes all the damn issues they have on iOS 4.3 and 4.3.3.

 

Nope. There are always devices shipping with older versions of Android. If you have to have the latest version then put that on your must have list when shopping.

Market niches as well. Not every device is top end.

 

Guamguy hit the nail on the head, so I'm just going to further expand on it.

Most companies, like HTC (Sense) have their own integrated software into Android. For a long time, the had their latest version of Sense integrated into Android 2.2. Eventually, they ported Sense (with upgrades) to Android 2.2.1. This is why their newer phones continue to ship with 2.2.1 instead of the newer 2.2.2 or 2.3.x. They've just recently finished porting Sense to Android 2.3.3, so that update is now rolling out to all targeted phones (staggered). Once that is completed, HTC will evaluate porting Sense to Android 2.3.4, or waiting for the next major release (2.3.5? 2.4.x? 3.x? 4.x? Who knows).

So to expand on what Guam said, it's not just the hardware development cycle, but also the software development cycle. HTC didn't want to just scrap existing planned updates for their phones in lieu of the newer version, as new updates from Google come out before HTC finishes the last update. If they did continually scrap their plans, phones would never get updated. HTC merely picks a version and pushes it to all targeted phones before working on a new picked version of Android.

Other companies have similar issues.

 

Exactly why I hate manufacturer overlayed skins. Too much time for too little difference. Also... why take all that time if it just makes the phones run slower?


Again, just saying, flat android is the best way to go.