Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      New MD for Dell South Africa

      18 June 2025

      How a dowdy database maker became an investor darling

      18 June 2025

      Who let the dogs order? Sixty60 now delivers for Fido

      18 June 2025

      Chief sub-editor wanted – help shape South African tech media

      18 June 2025

      Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’

      17 June 2025
    • World

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » World » Google will start charging phone makers for Europe app store

    Google will start charging phone makers for Europe app store

    By Agency Staff16 October 2018
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Google will start charging smartphone makers that want to install its app store and services for devices sold in Europe, changes it says it must make to comply with a European Union antitrust order in July that brought a record €4.3-billion fine.

    Starting 29 October, new phone models that install the Play store and a bundle of Google apps, including Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps, must pay a licensing fee, the Alphabet unit said in a blog posting on Tuesday. Phone manufacturers can choose to add Google’s Search and Chrome browser apps for free or install alternatives.

    The Google Play store is the most important feature of the Android operating system because it brings millions of apps that make phones useful. Google had forced manufacturers to pre-install Search and Chrome if they wanted to use it, restrictions that the EU found unlawful. It gave the company a deadline of next week to stop. The changes put an end in Europe to a strategy of ensuring these money-making search and Web ads get huge distribution.

    The decision does not require Google to charge for any of its apps or for the Play store

    Google argues that the advertising revenue generated from the Search and Chrome apps “helped us fund the development and free distribution of Android”. Ending the deals with manufacturers that pushed those two apps out to all Android phones means the company now plans to monetise Android with the paid licensing agreement, which only affects phones shipped to Europe.

    The shares of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, rose US$25.29, or 2.3%, to $1 117.54 at 1.10pm in New York trading. They’ve climbed 6.9% this year, compared to a 4.5% increase in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

    The European Commission said it was Google’s responsibility to comply with the order and it will monitor the effectiveness of the company’s moves.

    “It is for Google to decide exactly how to comply with the commission’s decision,” EU spokesman Ricardo Cardoso said in an e-mail. “The decision does not require Google to charge for any of its apps or for the Play store.”

    Gateway

    The Google Play store is a gateway for Android users to access other popular non-Google apps — such as Facebook and Snapchat — so manufacturers will have an incentive to pay for the store and the extra Google apps.

    Licensing fees paid by manufacturers are likely to be moderate and could be recouped by revenue-share agreements for placing Google apps prominently on a screen. Changes could take months, if not more than a year, to trickle into the market given the normal development cycles for mobile devices.

    Under the changes just unveiled, manufacturers are no longer prevented from experimenting with phones loaded with different apps or using an operating system based on the Android software but not carrying the Android name. This may not harm Google if it relies on the strength of its brand to label phones as Android. That may mean more of the Android green robot stickers at phone stores to highlight the Google-approved models.

    The Developers Alliance, an app industry group that’s supported Google in the EU probe, said Google’s move to obey the EU and allow other versions of Android be sold more widely risked creating diverging devices that don’t work together.

    The company is also fighting the Android decision in the EU courts, along with an earlier legal challenge to last year’s fine for its shopping service, even as regulators are weighing a third investigation into the company’s advertising contracts.  — Reported Aoife White and Natalia Drozdiak,with assistance from Alistair Barr, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP



    Alphabet Google top
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleEskom crisis deepens, load shedding narrowly averted
    Next Article Creative Cloud minting big profits for Adobe as it eyes new markets

    Related Posts

    Major rift opens between Microsoft and OpenAI

    17 June 2025

    Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

    17 June 2025

    Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

    17 June 2025
    Company News

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025

    Sage brings together HR leaders to explore the future of payroll and people management

    18 June 2025

    Altron: a brand journey, a birthday celebration and a bet on Joburg’s future

    17 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.