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Google has been forced to rethink how it licenses Android in India.And while all of these deals with manufacturers are always big secrets, we learn more about them through various leaks. Kuba Wojciechowskiexplains how manufacturers market Android in India and beyond.
Android has a staggering 97% market share in India, making it the world’s second largest smartphone market after China, with 600 million devices. About three weeks ago Google lost an antitrust case in India and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued new rules on how Google can bundle Android with other Google services. CCI also fined Google her $161 million. That’s about five hours worth of Alphabet’s $282 billion in annual sales, or about 25 cents for each of his 600 million mobile phones in India.
India’s new competition rules are so similar to those set by the EU many years ago that Google said the CCI had “extensively copied and pasted from the European Commission’s decision” in antitrust rulings. actually accused India of “plagiarism”. Google’s blog post about the ruling states that OEMs will be able to license individual Google apps, the default search engine will be chosen on the voting screen, Android forks will be allowed, and users will be able to choose. Some changes are outlined, such as becoming a billing provider.
However, if you decide to use IMADA, you can only release certain device variants in India. If you choose MADA instead, you can release the exact same device (using the exact same software) to almost everyone in the world. pic.twitter.com/BNIF6lJeXQ
— Kuba Wojciehosky 🌺 (@Za_Raczke) February 18, 2023
Google’s licensing rules for OEMs are set out in the “Mobile Application Distribution Agreement” (MADA) that all OEMs must sign in order to license the Play Store and other Google apps. Wojciechowski’s thread outlines some of the changes in this document. His regular MADA currently requires 11 Google apps to be bundled. Play Store, Search, Chrome, Drive, Gmail, Meet, Maps, YouTube Music, Google Photos, Play Movies & TV, and YouTube. There is also a “placement” requirement for the default layout of the first page of the home screen. For example, put the Google search bar front and center, or put the Google app folder on your home screen. In India, this list can be narrowed down to Play Store only if you have a license from Google. (If you don’t want the Play Store, you don’t need to get involved with Google at all because you’re forking Android.)
All of the various monopoly rulings around the world have fragmented this document and now Wojciechowski states that the ‘MADA’ document applies to most of the world but the ‘IMADA’ document applies to India and the ‘EMADA’ document applies to the EU, and the ‘EMADA’ instrument applies to the EU and the ‘TMADA’ instrument applies to Turkey. Rules are different around the world. Google’s tactic is to say that whoever signs her MADA agreements specific to these regions must limit their software builds to that region and bear the cost of supporting additional software builds. . You can also create a single software build across multiple regions by simply signing her regular worldwide MADA document which includes all the old Google bundling rules.
In the old-fashioned MADA deal, Google gave Android free to OEMs and recouped Android development costs from things like Search and Maps through Play Store fees and Google Ads. This model is so profitable that Google will share some of its advertising revenue with his OEM. pay Use Android over other operating systems. In the EU, his OEMs who choose to remove Google services are instead charged an upfront Android fee (up to $40 per device) with no revenue sharing.
India seems to have a similar revenue sharing plan to keep everyone in line. Wojciechowski writes about the “Indian Placement Agreement,” which provides a “per-app bounty” for every Google app an OEM chooses to include. So just like in the EU, an antitrust ruling could try to override Google’s “requirements” for his Android, but instead he would have two very uneven There is a “choice”. They want to be rewarded for using Android according to Google’s old rules, or pay for Android out of pocket without following rules and supplement their earnings in other ways.
