Google responds to the European Commission: “the Android has not harmed the competition, boosted-to”
Google responded to the “Statement of Objections” (SO) from the European Commission.
“The Android platform is the most flexible on the market, and balances the needs of thousands of manufacturers and operators, of thousands of application developers and hundreds of millions of consumers,” argues Kent Walker, senior vice president and general counsel of Google.
“Underestimate this balance will increase prices, harm innovation, reduce choice and limit competition”.
The resposte comes after, in April 2016, the European Commission have lifted concerns about how Google manages the compatibility of the Android and distribute your apps.
“THE OS of the European Commission is based on the idea that Android does not compete with Apple. We do not share this vision. And apparently not even Apple. Neither the manufacturers nor the developers nor the users”.
“In fact, 89% of the respondents who answered the survey, the EC has confirmed that Android and Apple are competing. Ignore this competition is to pass next to the feature that defines the landscape of competition in smartphones.
The response from Google expresses also the concern of the company in the face of the position of the EC that says underestimate the importance of the programmers “and the dangers of fragmentation in the mobile ecosystem”.
Only in Europe, by 2015 there were 1.3 million programmers, according to data from the company. Only that this same community depends on a framework consistent and stable to do its work.
anyone can download Android and modify it as you wish, and it is this same flexibility which, in the opinion of Google, it yields also the problem of fragmentation.
To combat this fragmentation, the company chose to work with hardware manufacturers to create a base level of compatibility on Android devices. At the same time Google also allows modifications above this level, “which explains why there is a huge variety of Android devices”.
Despite the European Commission to consider the fragmentation detrimental to the platform, Google argues that the proposal could “make the frafmentação even worse, undermining the Android platform and the competition in smartphones”.
As to the assertions of the European Commission that there should be available some Google apps as part of a suite, the north american company also has a response.
“No manufacturer is obliged to pre-install any application from Google on Android phone. But we offer to the manufacturers a suite of applications, so that when a user buy a new phone, you have immediate access to a set of basic services”.
Google gives after the example of the Apple iPhone, or Windows Phone from Microsoft, which “are not only the same””, as tambémm allow “a limited choice in apps already included in your phones”.
On average, an Android user european downloads 50 additional applications for your phone. Only in Google Play, in 2015, users downloaded 65 billion apps.
On average, more than 175 million apps on a daily basis. And since 2011, the applications that offer features similar to those of Google, present in the suite, were downloaded nearly 15 thousand million times.
“the distribution of The revenue generated by our products (like Google Search) along with the Google Play allow us to provide our suite free of charge – rather than charge a license fee for use.
“This free distribution is an efficient solution for all – reduces the prices for manufacturers and consumers, at the same time which allows you to maintain our substantial investment in the Android platform and Google Play.”
“But, the open source projects are ecosystems fragile. These platforms survive and grow based on the rules that balance the needs of all participants, including users and developers. The Commission’s approach would undermine this balance and can unintentionally end up encouraging the technological platforms more closed and vertically integrated”.
“which would result in less innovation, fewer choices, less competition and higher prices. And this would not only be a bad result for us. It would also be a result bad for phone manufacturers, to operators, to developers, and, above all, for consumers.”
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