Only 3 years of OS updates, then you need a new phone. Give 5 years directly so you can start thinking about competing with iOS. What is the problem? They have control of the software and the hardware like Apple.
You say that 5 years is needed to compete with iPhone but Android is 4 years ahead of iOS so effectively your net result after 3 years is still further forward than iOS after 5
Also is that 3 years from the first day they sell one or 3 years from the last day they sell one?
The ‘problem’ is that supporting ‘old’ hardware won’t net them the same high profit margins to which they’ve grown accustomed.
Not really true because Apple can do it, higher margins and support OS much longer. The problem is how they design their OS and the amount of work required. Just look at how long time Windows support all hardware. It is possible, all is just software. They just need to take the hugh upfront cost of the software development that can even help other vendors and suddenly you can do a lot of about the big OS fragmentation problem. You want your latest OS to run on like 90% of all devices. Today, I guess that number is down to like 15%.
