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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

#122
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real issue is that Indian tech companies want to be able to bundle their crap with Android phones and still take advantage of the Google phone/Android brand. They're welcome to sell forks and bundle all the alternative software they want with whatever store they want, they just can't call it an Android phone or call themselves an Android manufacturer. What Google requires of OEMs has been known for a long time an…

> What Google requires of OEMs has been known for a long time and isn't a secret. They aren't being fined for keeping secrets. > Huawei and others successfully sell Android forks with alternative stores and apps. If it takes a 1 billion person market with no access to Google services and multiple gigantic partially state-owned companies (Baidu, Huawei, and Tencent at least) to create a competitor that's only viable i…

> that Google has market dominance.

Having market dominance isn't illegal. Abusing it is. Google only has stipulations that, if you want to call your device a Google or Android device, you need to have the Play store and a few key services. Anyone can fork Android, put in their own app store, all their own apps, whatever.

Indian tech companies need to either fork and come up with their own eco-system or play by the rules. Not lobby their corrupt government to try to force Google into allowing their crapware and do their marketing for them...

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

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What Google requires of OEMs has been known for a long time and isn't a secret. They aren't being fined for keeping secrets. > Huawei and others successfully sell Android forks with alternative stores and apps. If it takes a 1 billion person market with no access to Google services and multiple gigantic partially state-owned companies (Baidu, Huawei, and Tencent at least) to create a competitor that's only viable i…

> that Google has market dominance. Having market dominance isn't illegal. Abusing it is. Google only has stipulations that, if you want to call your device a Google or Android device, you need to have the Play store and a few key services. Anyone can fork Android, put in their own app store, all their own apps, whatever. Indian tech companies need to either fork and come up with their own eco-system or play by the r…

Why would you assume the private sector is corruption free? It seems not playing fair is a fundamental rule of the business game.

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

#124
post #51
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…

Christ, google must be kicking themselves for being so permissive with android. Unless they impose similar requirements on apple, this seems like a punishment for being as permissive as they are.

Android is platform used by multiple OEMs, Apple is only one.

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

#125

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…

> Microsoft's OS dominance through Windows is probably why Windows Phone is so successful, right?

Google software and Android literally pushed Windows Phone out of existence, yes.

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

#126
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…

iv. Google shall not offer any monetary/ other incentives to, or enter into any arrangement with, OEMs for ensuring exclusivity for its search services. That's a threat about $15bn of Apple's revenue...

Problem is, it's Apple. I mean lets be frank, is 15B even 10% of Apple's revenue?

Maybe it is? Maybe it's even more than 10%?

But I doubt it.

I mean forget revenue, I bet you could lob 15B off their profit from last year and they'd still be more profitable than they'd ever been.

If you want to hurt big companies like banks, oil companies, healthcare behemoths so on and so forth, you have to hit them where it hurts. You can't be trimming around the edges and expect changes in behavior.

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

#127

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…

You can't possibly think Windows would have the market share it has now if people were able to just walk into the store and buy the same laptops with Linux installed.

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

#128
post #29
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.

other comment mentioning that "Ambani’s Reliance co will launch search next month." is not realistic. I mean even Bing is not able to capture significant market share of Google after all these years. > 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. however, th…

So basically you're saying that here's an American company that is monopolising a critical market in my country, but I prefer that monopoly to continue because I have built up this scenario in which an Indian company might monopolise it instead.

Interesting.

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

#129

The American technology companies are looking increasingly vulnerable especially internationally. Tech companies are the new wave of American mega corporations. I wonder how the mega corporation of past managed to navigate these challenges? Did US government play any role in protecting the US companies? If so, what drove it, more business friendly Washington, more effective lobbying, or something else?

Follow the money

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/alphabet-inc/summary?id=d00...

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