Google will start charging European Android device makers a fee for its apps

ronjor · Oct 16, 2018

Google will start charging European Android device makers a fee for its apps

By Jacob Kastrenakes@jake_k Oct 16, 2018
Android will still be “free and open source”
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ronjor · Oct 18, 2018

Google could finally face serious competition for Android

By Jacob Kastrenakes@jake_k Oct 18, 2018
It won’t be easy — but major phone makers can actually try
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Stefan Froberg · Oct 18, 2018

ronjor said: ↑

Google could finally face serious competition for Android
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Thank god.
The code is open source and anyone can take and modify anything they want to fit their hardware. These companies have **** loads of capital. So go for it!

No need for vendor-locking and drink Google-kool-aid just because world biggest data broker says so.

guest · Oct 19, 2018

Google app suite costs as much as $40 per phone under new EU Android deal
Confidential documents show strong incentives for keeping bundle intact
October 19, 2018
https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/19/17999366/google-eu-android-licensing-terms

Android manufacturers will have to pay Google a surprisingly high cost in Europe in order to include Google’s Play Store and other mobile apps on their devices, according to documents obtained by The Verge.

A confidential fee schedule shows costs as high as $40 per device to install the “Google Mobile Services” suite of apps, which includes the Google Play Store. The new fees vary depending on country and device type, and it would apply to devices activated on or after February 1st, 2019.

But phone manufacturers may not actually have to shoulder that cost: Google is also offering separate agreements to cover some or all of the licensing costs for companies that choose to install Chrome and Google search on their devices as well, according to a person familiar with the terms. Google declined to comment.
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__Nikopol · Oct 19, 2018

But will it be free if we want to download the play-store when it is missing, for example?

guest · Oct 26, 2018

EU 'Protecting Consumers' By Forcing Them To Pay More For Android?
October 26, 2018
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...sumers-forcing-them-to-pay-more-android.shtml

[...] the EU's antitrust focus seems to be much more directed at harming US companies rather than protecting EU consumers. Indeed, it is leading to situations where the antitrust efforts seem to be harming EU consumers, rather than helping them.

What is not at all clear is how this helps... anyone (well, other than the EU Commission who wants its $5 billion). At best, I guess you can argue that this "opens up" some sort of market for third party apps -- though those are already available to users to download and install pretty easily.

While I recognize that -- as many Europeans are quick to tell me -- EU regulations are much less focused on consumer welfare as a metric (and much more focused on beating up on big companies), I'm curious as to how this makes for good public policy. It provides a more expensive and less useful consumer experience while doing little to encourage any actual competition. Why is that a good thing?
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