So, for the last couple of years, ZTE was making a point to keep their devices supported with up-to-date software. They were a bit on the slow side, but devices got their updates eventually, including new features and other improvements.

Then, recently, the US Department of Commerce banned American companies from exporting goods to ZTE for seven years. This means that they can no longer acquire things like Qualcomm processors. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade followed in the US’s footsteps and banned companies in Taiwan from selling to ZTE, which also rules out sourcing from companies like MediaTek.

At around the same time, ZTE was wrapping up their Oreo update beta. A new wave of participants was added for a couple of weeks, and then it was announced that the program has ended. The export ban occurred between those two points. This could have meant that they were ready to release, and it could have also meant that they gave up.

It'll just keep doing this… over and over…

Now, if you attempt to run ZTE’s system update app, it just spins forever – they shut their update servers down. It looks like they gave up.

So… yeah. That sucks. It was a good phone, too.