Android has a problem — and this one is not easily fixed. There’s a conflict at the center of the world’s most popular operating system, and it’s getting worse. What happens next is down to Samsung to decide. But it could change everything.

I have warned about this before. Google supplies Android to other manufacturers, but it also competes with those OEMs through its own Pixel devices. And while Pixel has a small market share compared to those others, it’s first to new features and upgrades.

Security and privacy were central to Android 15 and it’s the same now with Android 16. And that makes this more critical for users than regular feature updates.

ForbesGoogle Warns All Gmail Users To Upgrade Accounts—This Is Why

Samsung is the largest OEM, and yet it suffered the most during the rollout of Android 15, trailing Pixel by almost an entire upgrade cycle. Pixels were moving to Android 16 just as many Samsungs got their first taste of Android 15. And while Samsung’s Android 16 rollout is expected to be faster, we’re still waiting to see that actually goes.

Now that warning has been echoed by Android Authority. with “five reasons why Google’s Pixel software is better than Samsung’s One UI.” But one of those reasons matters more than all the others. “No matter what Samsung does to One UI,” it says, “the one advantage that Google will always have is faster updates.”

In short, “as the creator of Android, it’s easier for Google to optimize its Pixel lineup.” While this is an especially acute time to have this debate, given “the mess that was One UI 7,” it goes beyond OS upgrades. Seamless and efficient security updates month after month and access to innovative new security features both come to mind.

While “Samsung has fixed its flawed One UI 7 update,” Android Authority says, “it’s done so just in time for everyone to turn their attention to One UI 8.” The reality is that Google has made Pixel unbeatable when it comes to the pace and efficiency of updates and upgrades, and as AI becomes ever more intrinsic to Android, this will become more critical to users and will remove some of Samsung’s differentiation.

ForbesMicrosoft Warns 400 Million Windows Users—Upgrade Your PC NowBy Zak Doffman

We’re seeing the same in the narrowing gap between Android and iPhone, and again with Google’s suite of AI-driven apps available across different operating systems, the mobile space race changes and it’s half-life significantly reduces.

Whole Samsung will determine what happens next, the trigger may come from China rather than Korea. Huawei is now pushing a third mobile OS, bringing real competition to iOS and Android for the first time in decades. The pressure is on other Chinese OEMs to jump onboard, rebalancing away from U.S. tech. You can be certain that’s what being pushed in quiet corridors in Beijing and Shenzhen as being in the national interest.

While Pixel’s unbeatable upgrades are certainly bad news for Samsung, it could well be that they’re even worse news for Android.