Google is unbundling its Android operating system (OS) for smartphones to allow third-party app stores in Google Play Store after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal and the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay on a Competition Commission of India order stating the tech giant had abused its dominant position. Google will also have to deposit the first instalment of the fine imposed. This matter has far-reaching consequences. Google’s Android OS has over 95 per cent of the market share in India, which consists of about 750 million smartphones. It can no longer impose a licensing agreement by which its own suite of proprietary mobile apps such as the Chrome browser, YouTube, Google Maps, and Gmail are pre-installed along with the Android OS by Indian mobile phone manufacturers. Google will also have to allow “side-loading” of competing apps from outside Play Store.
This ruling opens up key spaces for competing apps from other developers
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