Google is taking the EU 2018 Android antitrust case to court in an attempt to overturn the ruling
Google is taking the EU's 2018 Android antitrust case to court in an attempt to overturn the ruling
Google filed an appeal with a top European Union court on Monday, seeking to overturn a record EU antitrust fine imposed against the company for stifling competition through its dominance of the Android operating system.
According to the company, the European Union's executive Commission, which is the bloc's top antitrust enforcer, imposed a fine of $4.34 billion euros ($5 billion) against it in 2018, which is still the largest fine ever imposed by Brussels for anticompetitive behavior.
The penalty is one of three antitrust fines totaling more than $8 billion that the Federal Trade Commission levied against Google between 2017 and 2019. The other two were concerned with shopping and search, and the California-based company is appealing all three. Despite the fact that the fines were extremely large, critics point out that Google can easily afford them and that the fines have had little effect on expanding competition.
The Federal Trade Commission stated in its initial decision that Google's business practices restrict competition and reduce consumer choices.
Google, on the other hand, intends to argue that the free and open source Android operating system has resulted in lower-priced phones and increased competition with Apple, its chief rival.
In fact, Android has increased the amount of options available to everyone rather than decreasing them, and it supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world." "Neither the facts nor the law support this case," the company stated as the five-day hearing at the General Court of the European Court of Justice got underway.
The EU Commission did not respond to a request for comment. The decision of the court is not expected until the following year.
Mobile operating system Android, which outperforms even Apple's iOS, is found on four out of every five devices in Europe, making it the most popular mobile platform.
By requiring smartphone manufacturers to accept a bundle of Google apps, if they wanted any at all, and prohibiting them from selling devices running modified versions of Android, the European Commission found that Google had violated EU rules, according to the Commission.
Although the bundle contains 11 apps, including YouTube, Maps, and Gmail, regulators focused their attention on the three that had the largest market share: Google Search, Chrome, and the company's Play Store for mobile applications. Google Search, Chrome, and the company's Play Store for mobile applications
In Google's view, this is due to the fact that Android is an open source and free operating system, which allows phone manufacturers and consumers to choose which apps to install on their devices. And because Google is the only company responsible for the development and maintenance of Android, the company must find ways to recoup its costs. Its solution is to include apps that generate revenue, such as Google Search and Chrome, in the operating system.
Users are not barred from using competing services, according to the company, simply because its apps are installed by default on Android phones, according to the company.
The Commission also took issue with Google's payments to wireless carriers and phone manufacturers in exchange for pre-installing the Google Search application on their devices exclusively. Google, on the other hand, asserted that the deals represented less than 5 percent of the market, and thus couldn't possibly be detrimental to competitors.
Google made some changes in response to the ruling, including offering European Android users a choice of browser and search app, as well as charging device manufacturers to pre-install the company's apps.
