Samsung hasn’t provided a specific list of each model guaranteed to receive seven years of updates. However, the company’s announcement suggests the news will apply to TVs with AI-based features that came out in the aforementioned release window. (Samsung has been pushing the term “AI TVs” lately and also says building AI features is a way for it to compete against Chinese brands.)
A step in the right direction
Samsung’s upgrades commitment comes amid growing concern about e-waste and expensive products suddenly no longer getting software updates, resulting in bricked, slowly operating, or buggy experiences.
Research suggests that the average TV lasts about seven years. However, as UK consumer advocacy group Which? has found, the average TV brand offers software updates for fewer than seven years. With Samsung being the world’s biggest TV brand, offering longer-term software support could encourage more in the industry to do the same. It could also help users keep their devices for longer. Samsung’s seven-year commitment is longer than what LG recently announced it would offer, which is four OS updates over five years (you can see LG’s webOS update plan here).
However, other TV hardware companies are doing better. Apple has provided updates for its first Apple TV since 2015, FlatPanelsHD pointed out, while Roku is still providing OS updates to Roku OS-based TVs released in 2014. However, in general, TV OEMs and streaming device makers could make it easier for prospective buyers to know how long a device will continue getting software updates before they buy it.