Google doesn't much power in the relationship. They have announced several efforts to make OEMs and carriers provide a better update experience. So far it hasn't helped.
The OEM's customer is the carrier because the carrier determines whether or not the handset even appears for sale in the stores or on the website. For both the OEM and the carrier, updates are a pure cost center for which there is little-to-no benefit.
Google can't roll out updates on its own because the OEMs customize for their CPU, platform, baseband, etc. Google doesn't have the drivers, licenses, testing capacity, or configuration details to deal with the various bits of hardware.
Presumably Google could make regular updates a requirement for using Google services on Android. At that point we'd find out whether the tail wags the dog and I think Google might not like the answer; getting the data on Android users is quite valuable for building advertising profiles. I doubt a few Googlers desire to have timely updates would survive contact with the money-making ad side of the house but I could be wrong.
Google needs to actually develop Android as a platform where drivers and their software can be distributed separately. Like Windows. Even Windows Phone lets Microsoft push the OS directly (first tested in the Dev Preview feature) separate from the firmware updates from the carrier or OEM.
The OEM's customer is the carrier because the carrier determines whether or not the handset even appears for sale in the stores or on the website. For both the OEM and the carrier, updates are a pure cost center for which there is little-to-no benefit.
Google can't roll out updates on its own because the OEMs customize for their CPU, platform, baseband, etc. Google doesn't have the drivers, licenses, testing capacity, or configuration details to deal with the various bits of hardware.
Presumably Google could make regular updates a requirement for using Google services on Android. At that point we'd find out whether the tail wags the dog and I think Google might not like the answer; getting the data on Android users is quite valuable for building advertising profiles. I doubt a few Googlers desire to have timely updates would survive contact with the money-making ad side of the house but I could be wrong.