UK mobile carrier O2 revealed on Monday that it will not allow Android 4.1 Jelly Bean updates for Sony's Xperia Arc, Ray, and Neo devices, despite Sony making the latest version of Android available to to consumers. O2 claims that its reason for rejecting the update is due to its "negative implications" for speed and performance, reported TechRadar.

"Unfortunately with Xperia ray, arc and neo [sic] our testing found that the software affected the phone's speed and performance. Because the software affects the phone's performance in this way and because you can't revert back to an earlier version of Android without having your phone completely restored, we have decided not to approve the update (for the Arc, Ray and Neo,)" O2 said in an official post.

O2 also claimed the issues were present on three versions of Ice Cream Sandwich tested, and cited "more advanced" hardware requirements for the operating system.

"This means the these phones will remain on Android 2.3 Gingerbread which is a very stable platform," it added. Recent data revealed that Gingerbread is installed on over 60 percent of devices, making it the most popular version of Android despite 2011's Ice Cream Sandwich and June's Jelly Bean. Applying the latest version of Android consistently to existing devices is a consistent problem for Google.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reaction from O2 users is negative, with some even claiming that they will leave the carrier. For O2 customers eager for an Android update, the other option is to head to the XDA-Developers forum, find one of Sony's devices, and flash the update manually.