I'm genuinely starting to get frustrated with the roll out in South Africa. While waiting for the S21 series to get the update, the S20 series, Note 20 series, multiple A-series devices as well as the S22 series (who just received the November patch as well) has all received the update. You can't even contact Samsung south africa because they are just as clueless as us. I beg someone from Samsung to just give us an explanation.
I agree. If it was an issue where the S21 series experienced issues with the update, I can understand a delayed rollout to squash bugs.
In this case, it seems the S21 Series overall in Africa has yet to receive the One UI 5 update 🤔. There are one or two exceptions, but by and large this is the case.
Seeing as we are now in December, it's even more egregious that they haven't released the update through Africa. It's another example as to how large companies ignore the power and people of the African market.
Samsung's model is a bit like Apple's in South Africa in the sense that the "actual" Samsung Headquarters that controls software updates and makes decisions about rollouts isn't based in the country.
Instead, we work with a Samsung subsidiary who really sells the hardware and relays information from the larger corporation. We used to get update timelines for devices in SA (if Samsung HQ gave them to Samsung SA), but for this update our marketing received no timeline.
That disjointed corporate structure is what's really to blame, because it leaves the line staff (like the ones you called) in the dark and unable to give solid information that isn't already easily accessible by the public.
The South African and by extension, the African market deserves better service in this regard. However, the only way to protest such things would be to not buy their products 😂. I'm sure if enough consumers start some noise and it makes the papers, there would be a better response though.
Unfortunately Samsung has a much more complex structure because it's region segregated it's devices. So it's not just updating one S21 device. Each device has three or more variants in each country, and each variant might have specialised software.
Apple 🍏 simply uses its power to force cellular carriers to accept a single version of their device, without any tweaks from carriers adding bloatware or region specific software. If need be Apple does that, from it's centralised control of its software.
Samsung still partners with cellular carriers, creating an additional line of complexity for its update structure. When you consider this, the multiple variants of a single device per region - it's the proverbial pawpaw striking the fan 🥭.
It's something I hate, and something Samsung has the power to get out of.
The Samsung SA reps are underpaid, under-informed and secretly...know just as much as we do 😂.
