More problems for Google: The Financial Times they mention that the EU antitrust investigation into Android is being completed and the fine is expected to be announced in July. THE European Commission is investigating Google's Android after receiving complaints from competitors that Google is manipulating its smartphone dominance.
Google has been accused of restricting access to the Google Play Store unless phone manufacturers make use of Google Search and the Chrome app, a practice that may violate EU antitrust rules.
Google is also reportedly blocking phone makers from creating devices running serial versions of Android as part of a deal against fragmentation.
According to FT information, the fine is expected to be announced next month, but for now no one knows the exact amount. The EU could impose a fine on Google up to 11 billions of dollars, a percentage of 10% of Alphabet's annual turnover (the parent company of Google).
It's probably unlikely Google will pay a fine of 11 billion dollars, but if it's a little over 2,7 billions of dollars we'll have a new record. The company has already imposed a fine of $ 2,7 billion (2017) from the European Commission again for violations of antitrust laws. The EU has accused Google of downgrading its opponents and promoting only its own services in search results.
Google's previous fine did not make major changes to the company, but Android's case could be very different.
Google has been accused of linking the search engine to Android and the European Commission could force the company to make changes to this practice.
Google could live up to the experience of Microsoft, which the EU has been watching for years to ensure it complies with the changes required by law.
Microsoft had a confrontation with the EU that lasted for more than 10 years. Microsoft has been accused of associating Windows Media Player with Windows and the EU has forced it to withdraw the application so that its competitors have an opportunity.
Initially, Microsoft created a special version of Windows for Europe without implementation, but the EU did not stop. He accused Microsoft of associating Internet Explorer with Windows and forced the company to display a non-Microsoft browser screen in an attempt to improve competition.
EU changes have helped to promote alternatives browsers, like Firefox and Chrome, right inside Windows.
If the EU forces Google to make similar changes to Android, it will be much bigger problem from the fine to be announced in July. Microsoft under EU supervision had to think very hard about its next business decisions. Next month we will see if the same thing happens with Google.
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