Google Hinders Android OS Development by Korean Firms
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) recently finished its four-year investigation on whether Google hindered the development and use of a modified Android operating system by South Korean mobile phone manufacturers. The commission’s tentative conclusion is that Google abused its market dominance and a large fine is likely to be imposed on Google. The KFTC is about to send its investigation report to Google and hold a deliberative plenary meeting.
The core of the investigation was whether the anti-fragmentation agreement between the manufacturers and Google constituted market dominance abuse. According to the agreement, an Android smartphone manufacturer cannot develop and use a modified Android operating system.
The Android operating system is open-source and allows various modifications. In other words, the agreement is illogical. The illogicality is possible because Google is unrivaled. In June this year, Android and iOS phones accounted for 74.2 percent and 25.2 percent of the global smartphone market, respectively.
It can be said that South Korean smartphone manufacturers, which did not have their own operating systems, could not resist the agreement and that the limitation on their operating system development led to an additional increase in Google’s market share.