EU accuses Google of abusing dominance in Android market

News Wireless Europe 20 APR 2016
EU accuses Google of abusing dominance in Android market

The European Commission has accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the search and Android market by forcing smartphone makers to favour its services and apps on their devices. After starting an investigation in April 2015 into Google's role in the Android OS and apps market, the Commission's preliminary conclusion is that Google implemented a strategy on mobile devices to preserve and strengthen its dominance in general internet search. 

The EC sent a statement of objections to Google, outlining its allegations of antitrust violations. These include Google requiring manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and Google's Chrome browser and requiring them to set Google Search as the default search service on their devices, as a condition to license certain Google proprietary apps; preventing manufacturers from selling smart mobile devices running on competing operating systems based on the Android open source code; and giving financial incentives to manufacturers and mobile operators if they exclusively pre-install Google Search on their devices. 

The Commission said these practices will only strengthen Google's dominance on the search market, while limiting the ability of other web browsers to compete with Chrome and hindering the development of other operating systems based on Android and related apps and services. The company was found to be dominant in general internet search services, licensable smart mobile OS and app stores for Android devices, with market shares of over 90 percent in all three segments in the EU. The Commission said Google's abuse of its dominance "ultimately harms consumers because they are not given as wide a choice as possible and because it stifles innovation". 

Google and its parent company Alphabet will now have the opportunity to respond to the Commission's allegations, before the EC takes a final decision whether to bring formal charges against the company and impose fines or other sanctions. The Android investigation remains separate from the EU's case against Google for favouring its own services in its search results. 

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

European Commission,  Google

Regions:

Europe

Tags:

Regulations, IT - applications, Wholesale, Handsets

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