Re: Within the next 18 months there will be a massive Android infection
Why buy a new phone, when firmware flashing is enough?
For Reg readers, sure, a firmware flash is an option. Not so for the typical smartphone customer, if you think it is you vastly overestimate their technical competence. These are people who bought new PCs by the tens of millions each year because malware infected their old one and made it "slow", even though reinstalling Windows would have licked that problem.
As for the factory reset, the article says the factory reset may not be enough. If you hide code needed to reestablish the infection in the firmware, re-flashing is your only way out. And that's simply not something the typical Android user is going to be able to do.