Ddos 
The European Union’s Energy Labeling and Ecodesign Regulation officially came into effect on June 1, 2025. From this date forward, all newly released hardware by manufacturers must comply with the regulation’s mandates, including affixing energy efficiency labels, estimated product lifespan, and repairability ratings.
A pivotal provision of the legislation requires hardware manufacturers to provide five years of updates for Android smartphones. These updates are not limited to security patches; manufacturers are also obligated to deliver functional updates to ensure continued usability of features throughout the five-year lifecycle.
It is crucial to note that the EU’s five-year update mandate does not begin on the device’s release date, but rather from the date the final unit of that specific model is sold. For instance, if a particular Android device launches on June 3, 2025, and its last unit is sold on January 1, 2026, the manufacturer is then required to provide both functional and security updates until at least January 1, 2031.
The primary aim of this regulation is to prolong the service life of electronic products and reduce electronic waste—a goal aligned with other EU initiatives such as mandating USB-C ports on Apple devices to curb compatibility fragmentation and its associated environmental toll.
Robust software update support can significantly reduce the frequency with which users feel compelled to replace their smartphones. While this may be unwelcome news for OEMs, it is a commendable step forward from an environmental and sustainability perspective.
That said, the scope of this new policy is limited to the EU market. Android OEMs typically develop region-specific software builds, such as European variants, and adapting AOSP-based software and security updates requires substantial integration work. As a result, OEMs may choose to extend software support solely for EU versions, while other regional variants may not benefit from the same five-year update cycle.
Google, meanwhile, has been steadily advocating for longer software support commitments from OEMs. The company previously set a goal that OEMs should provide at least seven years of updates for their devices. If a smartphone or tablet remains on sale for two years post-launch, the EU’s five-year requirement effectively brings the total update period in line with Google’s vision of seven years.
At present, Android OEMs tend to reserve robust security support for flagship devices. However, even among flagship models, updates extending to five or seven years remain rare. For non-flagship devices, receiving just two years of security updates is already considered a fortunate exception.
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