Comment by firesteelrain
3 months ago
So if Google closed sourced their OS and access to their store is only via their OS, is that anti competitive ?
Trying to figure out the argument.
As opposed to Apple, Android is free and open like you said. It’s the Google Play Store that has limited access.
Apple never pretended iOS is free and available to all other phone manufacturer. It was always a main selling point for Apple phone.
Google killed competition by first making a free operating system that all phone manufacturer could use, lowering their production cost, and when competitor like windows phone or Samsung tyzen died, slowly tightened his grip by pushing more and more core feature in their third party services, hence forcing manufacturer to agree to their terms if they want to have a play store, Google pay service or just pass play integrity so that bank app can run.
That’s in my opinion completely different strategies, one is fair, the other is deceptive and manipulative.
Windows Phone was not killed by Google offering a free OS. Microsoft chose to charge a licence for it[0]. And every Android handset requires (or required) the manufacturer to pay Microsoft licence fees of about the same amount, so the cost to the OEM wouldn't have been that different.
[0] https://www.phonearena.com/news/ZTE-exec-reveals-how-much-th...
Well, from the very same article you’re quoting.
> The ZTE exec Santiago Sierra said they are giving Microsoft between 15 to 20 pound sterling for each handset, which is why Windows Phones are going to be more expensive for the company to make than their Android handsets
> Google, in its turn, tries to keep Android free and open, and hopes to make money from search and advertising on the platform, which is its core business.
I mean it goes clearly in the direction I’m saying.
When searching for how much Google play service cost per device, I not only found it was free when it mattered (when there was competition) but also this :
> Google is changing the way it licenses its suite of Android apps in Europe, leading the company to charge a licensing fee for the Play Store and other Google apps for the first time.
> The changes come in response to a July ruling by the European Commission, which fined the company $5 billion for antitrust violations
Again, it’s pretty explicit.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/16/17984074/google-eu-andro...
There is not much room to defend Google case, it’s blatant and have been found so by other jurisdictions than the USA.