Antitrust Order May Stall Android Growth In India: Google To Supreme Court
NDTV
The CCI last year fined Google $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in Android, which powers 97% of smartphones in India.
The growth of Google's Android ecosystem is on the brink of stalling in India due to an antitrust order that asks the company to change how it markets the platform, the US company has said in a Supreme Court challenge seen by Reuters.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October fined Alphabet Inc-owned Google $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in Android, which powers 97% of smartphones in India, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.
Google has so far said the CCI decision will force it to change its long-standing business model, but its Supreme Court filing for the first time quantifies the impact and details the changes the company will need to make.
Google will need to modify its existing contracts, introduce new license agreements and alter its existing arrangements with more than 1,100 device manufacturers and thousands of app developers, it says.
