Google has rejected the European Commission's claim that it abuses its dominant position in the Android smartphone market. The company said: "Android hasn’t hurt competition, it’s expanded it" and accused the Commission of favouring closed systems over the open-source based Android.
In April, the Commission's preliminary conclusion of an investigation was that Google favours its own apps and services on Android devices in order to strengthen its position in the search market. Google rejected this, saying it works to ensure compatibility in the Android ecosystem and its practices are no different to Apple or Microsoft on their smartphones.
The Commission is concerned that Google is giving financial incentives to manufacturers and mobile operators if they exclusively pre-install Google Search on their devices. Google said "no manufacturer is obliged to preload any Google apps on an Android phone". It offers them a suite of apps so that when consumers buy a new phone, they can access a familiar set of basic services.
Android’s competitors, including Apple’s iPhone and Microsoft’s Windows phone, "not only do the same, but they allow much less choice in the apps that come with their phones", Google said, adding that consumers "can swipe away any of our apps at any time". Furthermore, hardware makers and carriers can pre-install rival apps as well, and consumers are free to install apps of their choice.
In response to allegations that it's preventing manufacturers from selling devices running on competing operating systems based on the Android open source code, Google said it was working to establish a minimum level of compatibility among Android devices and reduce fragmentation in the market. The "voluntary" compatibility agreements with manufacturers allow them to exceed Google's "base line", resulting in a wide variety of Android devices, Google said. The company added that this is important especially for developers so they can make apps that work across all phones and tablets. "This balance stimulates competition between Android devices as well as between Android and Apple’s iPhone," Google said.
The company also defended the bundling of apps like Google search with its app store Google Play, saying distributing the products together "permits us to offer our entire suite for free — as opposed to, for example, charging upfront licensing fees". The free distribution is "an efficient solution for everyone — it lowers prices for phone makers and consumers, while still letting us sustain our substantial investment in Android and Play", Google said.
