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India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

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Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#71
post #37
post #4

Here is the link to original order [ https://www.cci.gov.in/antitrust/press-release/details/261/0 ] some experts 13. Accordingly, in terms of the provisions of Section 27 of the Act, the Commission has imposed monetary penalty as well as issued cease and desist order against Google from indulging in anti-competitive practices that have been found to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act. Some…

Can I have the same for Micrsoft and Apple for both mobile and desktop? For Apple I get it's different since they don't have OEMs selling Macs/iPhones/iPads but I feel like many similar restrictions should apply Examples: > Google shall allow the users, during the initial device setup, to choose their default search engine for all search entry points. > Google shall not offer any monetary/ other incentives to, or ent…

Nobody cares about Chromebooks. They only matter in schools and they're almost certainly illegal in schools, so that will self-solve when those charges get addressed.

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#72
post #65

But Google doesn't require Android makers to bundle it's apps unless they specifically want to be called a Google device (and thus take advantage of the free marketing). Plenty of Chinese manufacturers ship without Google bits.

I highly recommend you read the original ruling, it is in English and it explains how they view the relationship between the Play Store, Android OEMs, the MADA, and other Google services.

I'm confident if people had actually read the MADA and the AFA, Google would enjoy virtually no public support for their behavior. Of course, there's a reason Google considers those documents confidential.

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#73

If "platform" companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft weren't capable of advantaging themselves via anti-competitive practices, their stock values wouldn't be nearly as high. Their implicit leverage over the markets they oversee via their OSes is the core of why they are the biggest companies in the world. Fines are a cost of doing business, hardly a deterrent when your product (your OS) is the conduit through which…

Microsoft's OS dominance through Windows is probably why Windows Phone is so successful, right? ;-) Presumably Apple also leveraged the Mac's unquestioned dominance of the PC space to enable the iPhone to beat established incumbents like Nokia, Blackberry and Palm. And Android undoubtedly became popular primarily because of Google's dominance in web search. I can't believe government regulators let these companies ge…

This is of course an excellent point: Microsoft getting repeatedly fined and slapped with anti-trust violations had actual results on their business practices.

It might not have stopped them from other problematic behaviors, put certainly had a braking effect on the "nothing can stop us" train they were riding. The direct effect could be the Windows Phone not crushing the better options, yes.

As you point out, Apple and Google sure need the same treatment, and it seems something is finally happening after all these years of abuse.

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't PayTM and PhonePe bigger?

Those are insignificant in comparison to Google Pay (or Tez as it used to be called).

Paytm and phone pe are not insignificant.

> PhonePe (49.25%), Google Pay (34.6%), Paytm (10.65%) and CRED (1.8%) together processed 636 Cr UPI transactions worth INR 10.32 Lakh Cr

https://inc42.com/buzz/top-four-upi-apps-held-96-market-in-a...

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#75
post #9

Anyone know how much net profit Google makes in one year from the India market in USD? One article states Rs 586.2 crore, but how to convert to USD? https://m.timesofindia.com/business/india-business/google-in...

You type "586.2 crore indian rupees in U.S dollars" into Google search.

USD 70,757,505.48 https://t.ly/xfAe

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#76

> ix. Google shall allow the developers of app stores to distribute their app stores through Play Store. This is huge if google follows through

Not that huge. If, however, phone distributors would start providing non-Google app download hubs / stores as the default - _that_ would be more serious.

Already happens on Samsung phones. Used to happen on Motorola and others as well. And of course, Amazon tablets don't include Play Store at all.

This ruling has no effect on that. It just says that Google can't require manufacturers to install Chrome, Assistant, and other Google apps if they want to have Play Store on their devices.

What will probably happen is that Google will accept some other form of payment to get access to Play Store.

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#77

If "platform" companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft weren't capable of advantaging themselves via anti-competitive practices, their stock values wouldn't be nearly as high. Their implicit leverage over the markets they oversee via their OSes is the core of why they are the biggest companies in the world. Fines are a cost of doing business, hardly a deterrent when your product (your OS) is the conduit through which…

Yes because, Apple with only 3% market share in India should gain the same attention as Android.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/262157/market-share-held...

Have you ever thought that Apple’s market cap may be because people choose to pay a premium for their hardware using their own free will?

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#78
post #14

Good in theory but Google's Android apps and Google forbidding Indian telcom companies and Chinese smartphone manufactures from installing adwarecrap has made the ultra-cheap smartphone experience somewhat tolerable for hundreds of millions of people. It's all going to be insufferable adware hell from now on.

I hope people don't make the assumption that anything that's not coming from Google is harmful and a potential adware/malware. People who support Apple's app store monopoly also use the same logic. Maybe the Indian government needs to push separate bills prohibiting manufactures from packaging crapware. But this is a step in the right direction IMO.

Well, it’s a good thing we have real lawyers and judges - one of which knocked Epics silly defense that Apple has a monopoly on its own platform was just like saying Sony had a monopoly on PS games that can be distributed.

Re: India fines Google $162M for anti-competitive practices on Android

#79
post #4

Here is the link to original order [ https://www.cci.gov.in/antitrust/press-release/details/261/0 ] some experts 13. Accordingly, in terms of the provisions of Section 27 of the Act, the Commission has imposed monetary penalty as well as issued cease and desist order against Google from indulging in anti-competitive practices that have been found to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act. Some…

> ix. Google shall allow the developers of app stores to distribute their app stores through Play Store.

This is a big one.

I hope they require the same for iOS, but for some reason that doesn't seem to be happening anywhere.

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