SEOUL, Jan 24 — A Seoul court ruled today against the American technology company, Google, in a suit the company filed to cancel an antitrust fine imposed for forcing smartphone makers to install its Android OS system.
The Fair Trade Commission slapped a fine of 224.93 billion won (RM795 million) on Google LLC, Google Asia Pacific and Google Korea in 2021, accusing the firm of forcing Samsung Electronics and other smartphone makers to install the Android system on their handsets.
According to investigations, Google, the dominant player in the mobile OS market, had enforced an anti-fragmentation agreement (AFA) as part of broader Android license deals with smartphone makers, Yonhap news agency reported.
The AFA committed contractors not to sell devices running on “Android fork OS,” or an operation system created on the basis of Android’s source code.
Google has since lodged an appeal to reverse the fine and an order to correct the practice, but the Seoul High Court on Wednesday upheld the antitrust regulator’s decision.
The court determined that Google abused its dominant market power, recognising that the firm had the “intention and purpose” to restrict competition by excluding rival companies.
“Due to Google’s demand, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and others had difficulties commercialising their products and developing unique products, and are complaining that innovation and product improvement are being hindered,” the court said. — Bernama-Yonhap
