Google warns of stalled Android growth

THE growth of Google's Android ecosystem is on the brink of stalling in India due to an antitrust order that asks the company to change how it markets the platform, the US company has said in a Supreme Court challenge.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October fined Alphabet-owned Google $161m for exploiting its dominant position in Android, which powers 97 percent of smartphones in India, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.

Google has so far said the CCI decision will force it to change its long-standing business model, but its Indian Supreme Court filing for the first time quantifies the impact and details the changes the company will need to make.

Google will need to modify its existing contracts, introduce new license agreements and alter its existing arrangements with more than 1,100 device manufacturers and thousands of app developers, it says.

‘Tremendous advancement in growth of an ecosystem of device manufacturers, app developers and users is at the verge of coming to a halt because of the remedial directions,' stated Google's filing, which is not public.

‘Google will be required to make far-reaching changes to the Android mobile platform which has been in place for the last 14-15 years.'

A Google spokesperson declined to comment.

Google has been concerned about the Indian decision as the remedies ordered are seen as more sweeping than the European Commission's landmark 2018 ruling for imposing unlawful restrictions on Android mobile device makers. Google has challenged the record $4.3bn fine in that case.