last April, the european Commission communicated to Google the list of his grievances regarding Android and the applications, and in particular the services home of the giant. And for the regulator, the partnership claimed by Google with the operators and the manufacturers hold most of the constraint.
In his response sent today to the Commission, the firm rejects these updates. In a blog post, chief legal officer Kent Walker strives on the contrary to present Android as a “factor of choice and diversity”.
Google, maker of the smartphone for all
The firm also estimates that Android has allowed it to overcome the fragmentation of the mobile terminals resulting from proprietary platforms. “Smartphones were then both scarce and dear” also remembers Kent Walker.
“We wanted to change that – while fostering innovation and offering more choice to users – and our approach has paid off,” he adds. The leader of Google is not rewritten-it is however part of the story ?
Make smartphones more affordable was not an end in itself. In 2007, the mobile usage began to emerge. Google was, in particular through its search engine, a player in the desktop. It was for him to make the transition to mobile.
Android was a lever to achieve it. And the OS has borne fruit. In 2015, Google announced, as well as the mobile searches exceed those of the desktop. On mobile, as on desktop, Google is in a dominant position. And for that, Android has been her instrument ?
And the firm of Mountain View has in the same time closed Android to its rivals by imposing restrictions to operators and manufacturers ? The european Commission is suspected. Google refutes and defends, on the contrary, the benefits of Android and its strategy.
A Play Store under conditions
“Thanks to Android, the manufacturers do not have to develop or acquire an operating system which can be expensive. And the results are visible : we can now find smartphones from 45 euros, making them accessible to the greatest number of people. Today, more than 24 000 devices manufactured by more than 1,300 manufacturers that operate under Android. And developers european can distribute their applications to more than one billion users in the world,” wrote the legal manager.
however, there is one consideration : the suite of 11 apps Google distributed with Android, including its search engine, the heart of its activity, and the Chrome browser. But the giant stresses that manufacturers and operators are not forced to pre-install its apps on an Android terminal.
He supports more”, which allows users “to access the basic tools they expect to find.” Besides, he says, the competition, Apple with iOS and Microsoft with Windows Phone, in fact the same. None of these competitors do not, however, displays 80% of the market share in smartphone nor offers a search service in a dominant position. Moreover, that Google has signed a financial agreement with Apple for that its search engine is set by default on iOS. This leaves, therefore, little room for competing services on a smartphone.
Google fails to come back on another major point raised by the Commission : access to the Google Play store. One of the strengths of Android is its wealth of application. To convince on the market, a manufacturer Android needs to offer its customers access to the Google Play. But to pre-install it, a manufacturer will necessarily have to take the 11 apps. A manufacturer with an agreement of revenue sharing with Google will also present the default engine on the home screen.
By phone, the firm assures us that have Google Play does not impose its engine and Chrome to be the default application, that is to say, thrown necessarily by the user to search or browse the Internet – until eventually that it sets other default services in place.
Google has locked down the mobile search
“As a result, it is impossible for the search engines rivals to become the default search service on the great majority of devices sold in the EEA. Through its strategy, Google has also deterred the manufacturers to preinstall applications, research competitors, and consumers to download these applications,” explained the Commission in April.
But for Google, its suite of applications is very much less than one-third of the pre-installed applications on the device”. The user can also remove them when he wishes. This possibility, however, was not offered in the early days of Android. Google doesn’t mention that its apps should appear on the home screen of Android (in the framework of an agreement), which have an advantage over the competing tools, that they also may be pre-installed or not.
The giant does not, however, up to present themselves exclusively as the benefactor of the mobile universe. Although… It says that “the distribution of services-paying as Google Search and Google Play, among its suite ensures free everything and continue to invest in Android. Google forgets to note, however, that the gratuity is a choice of economic model, not a sacrifice.
“This form of distribution is an effective solution for everyone. It allows to reduce costs for manufacturers and customers, and avoids having to request the payment of licences to use” he / she goes up to claim.
No, Google is not a samaritan, but a commercial undertaking. Android was for him a powerful lever to expand the use of its online services on mobile. If the competition exists on the market, maybe is it not the same in all areas, and in particular certain application areas such as research.
Draw a self-portrait essentially flattering as the fact Google is not an admission of guilt. It is therefore up to the Commission to determine if the practices of the firm distort the play of competition.
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