India is the latest country to hit Google with a multimillion-dollar fine for imposing unfair conditions on Android smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung. CCI (Competition Commission of India) has fined Google an equivalent of approximately $162 million for giving an edge to its Android apps using restrictive terms. The fine has been imposed because of Google's practice of requiring certain apps to be pre-installed on Android phones and giving them priority placement to suppress competition.
According to the officials, Google has a dominant position in five sectors, i.e., OS for smartphones, app store, web search initiatives, web browsers, and video services. The Indian regulator, via a press release, says that Google requires Android phone OEMs to pre-install an entire suite of apps and also forces them to show these apps on the home screen. This amounts to the “imposition of unfair conditions on the device manufacturers.”
The regulator also highlighted that because of this unfair Android monopoly, Google is discouraging device manufacturers from developing and offering an alternative version of Android.
The regulator also demands to allow the distribution of third-party app stores via the Play Store
Historically, Google asks Android OEMs to include apps like Chrome and YouTube out of the box, with prominent placement on the home screen. However, there are other better alternatives, such as Firefox and Vimeo, but they aren't given the same treatment.
Google has been ordered not to offer any incentives to Android manufacturers to exclusively carry Google's bouquet of apps. Moreover, the fine also says that Android OEMs in India “shall not be restrained” on which Google apps are to be pre-installed on Android phones. The order also says that Google isn't allowed to deny access to the Play Services framework. Also, the order demands that Google should allow third-party app stores to be distributed via the Play Store.
Apart from India, Google is facing other fines and demands from regulators across the globe. The EU has upheld a €4.1 billion fine over similar concerns, while South Korea has imposed a smaller fine for limiting heavy Android skins. The US is also taking antitrust actions against Google. Due to these anti-trust issues, Google has reportedly planned to work more on its own hardware rather than spending on the Android ecosystem.
