> This unnamed vendor was, in late 2017, preparing to launch a new device running Android 5.0 which was EoL and had not seen an update since late 2015 The issu

> This unnamed vendor was, in late 2017, preparing to launch a new device running Android 5.0 which was EoL and had not seen an update since late 2015 The issue is that in order to get a license for real Android your devices has to meet some minimum specs so if you want to create an inexpensive device that doesn't meet those specs AOSP is still a reasonable choice for your OS. I'm not sure if its still true, but it used to be that if you were shipping any AOSP based device Google wouldn't give you an Android license for any of your other devices so manufacturers that were interested in serving more price sensitive markets (e.g. India) will sometimes use it across their whole product line.