Which are the most reliable manufacturers and US carriers when it comes to Froyo updates?

Froyo was released back in June last year, and as the latest and tastiest Android update at the time, everyone wanted it bad. Even though Gingerbread has been unveiled recently, some good folks are still waiting in line for their Android 2.2 upgrade (we feel for you, US Galaxy S users), and it's only right to take a look at what rates carriers and manufacturers pushed the Froyo treat to their users.

Note that in this report made by Computer World only Froyo updates between June and December of 2010 are counted, i.e. handsets that were launched with Android 2.2 or were updated to, say, 2.1 in this period, are not taken into account.

Manufacturers

The most reliable Android manufacturer when it comes to Froyo updates is... HTC. The Taiwanese smartphone vendor has proved again and again that it's quietly brilliant, and this data shows it once more - 50% of all HTC phones were updated to Android 2.2 between June and December 2010. Second in this table is Motorola with 15.4%, while Samsung is third with 11.1%. Sony Ericsson, Dell and LG are off the Froyo updates' table, since none of their handsets tasted Froyo in the said period.

The "average wait in days for Froyo updates to begin" chart shows that Moto is the best in this category with an average score of 54.6 days, while HTC is close second with 56 days. Sammy is third and its customers have to wait three times more to get Froyo (if they do, you know) - 159 days.

Carriers

Since the release of the first Motorola DROID, Verizon has turned into a stronghold for Android devices (although the Verizon iPhone may change a thing or two), so it's not particularly surprising that Big Red has the highest percent of Android 2.2 updates between June and December 2010 - 33.3%, and is also the fastest carrier to deliver the tasty Froyo desert - 58 days in average. Second is Sprint - 28% of the third largest US carrier's Android handsets received Froyo - a process that took (on average) a hundred days. Third is T-Mobile, and disappointingly, only 12.5% of its Android phones got Froyo in the above mentioned period. Furthermore, the owners of these handsets that were eventually updated to Android 2.2 had to wait 112 days on average.

Conspicuous by its absence is AT&T, and, indeed, the second largest US carrier failed to send the Froyo treat to any of its Android handsets. Remember, though, that this was in the days of the iPhone exclusivity, and the most intriguing AT&T phones that are set to come soon are all Android powerhouses, like the AT&T ATRIX 4G, the Samsung Infuse 4G and the HTC Inspire 4G.

These are the facts, and they speak volumes of which manufacturers and carriers are Android's best mates. When you buy a phone, it's vitally important to know which phone makers and carriers are best in providing updates, so we hope this summary facilitates your choice.

source: ComputerWorld via Electronista