India’s antitrust order to stall Android growth: Google

NEW DELHI: The growth of Google’s Android ecosystem is on the brink of stalling in India due to an antitrust order that asks the company to change how it markets the platform, the US company has said in a Supreme Court challenge.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Alphabet Inc-owned Google $161 million in October for exploiting its dominant position in Android, which powers 97 percent of smart phones in India, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smart phone makers related to pre-installing apps.

Google has so far said the CCI decision will force it to change its long-standing business model, but its Indian Supreme Court filing for the first time quantifies the impact and details the changes the company will need to make.