(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 21 - A fine of 160 million dollars for Google: this is the sanction decided last night by the Indian Antitrust against the web giant, for its position of absolute domination on the country's smart phone market.
The Competition Commission of India, the body that set the mega fine, found that Google designed its platform to outperform all other competitors with its popular apps.
In the majority of smartphones that use the Android operating system, Google has carved out a dominant presence with pre-installed apps, such as YouTube, PlayStore, or the Crome search engine.
In addition to the fine, the Antitrust Authority has ordered Google to change its way of operating within a set period.
India is the second largest market for smartphone users in the world, after China, with annual sales of over 170 million pieces.
According to the Counterpoint study center, the Indian smartphone market grew by 26% in 2021;
in 95% of cases the operating system used is Android, the one dominated by Google.
(HANDLE).