The giant Google and the European Union clash in another episode in the long-running antitrust series: the fight against monopolistic practices. Once again, the pre-installation of Google Search and Chrome on mobile devices is at stake.
The Alphabet Inc company defends itself by saying that it needs to gain market share from Apple.
Google risks paying a record fine of € 4.3 billion
In the General Court of the European Union, for the next five days, Google will defend itself from the accusation that is hanging over it for antitrust practices. All because the research giant has established agreements, the so-called Mobile Application Distribution Agreements or MADA, with mobile device manufacturers for the pre-installation of the search engine and the browser on Android devices.
To avoid paying the record € 4.3 billion fine, Google attorney Meredith Pickford defended the settlements, saying they were necessary to gain market share from Apple.
The European Commission closed its eyes to competitive dynamics
According to Reuters, Pickford goes further and ensures that the European Commission “closed its eyes to the competitive dynamics” existing in the sector, between Tim Cook’s company and the Android operating system.
Google’s lawyer also alleges that the European Commission wrongly considers the company to have a dominant position in mobile devices, as it underestimates the limitations imposed by Apple.
Google denies competitive opportunities
In turn, the lawyer representing the European Commission, Nicholas Khan, refuted Google’s arguments, saying that Google gave no opportunity to competition and that involving Apple in this matter will not change the situation.
The auditions will continue in the next few days and, keeping an eye on this session, they promise to shake up the tech world.
It is recalled that the case dates back to 2018 when the European Commission began to raise doubts about the pre-installation of Google’s search engine and browser on mobile devices, accusing the technology giant of antitrust practices.
This accusation led the European Commission to apply a fine based on 10% of Alphabet Inc’s income in 2017. The income obtained in that year amounted to about 111 billion dollars, about 95 billion euros.