The CJEU found that the pre-installation requirements and anti-fragmentation agreements were capable of restricting competition and strengthening Google's dominant position in the Android ecosystem.
BRUSSELS, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday upheld a 4.125-billion-euro (4.7 billion U.S. dollars) antitrust fine imposed on Google over abusive practices linked to its Android mobile operating system.
The ruling dismissed an appeal by Google and its parent company, Alphabet, against a previous judgment of the General Court of the European Union (EU), which confirmed that the U.S. tech giant had abused its dominant market position through restrictions related to Android.
The CJEU held that the General Court of the EU had correctly assessed the anticompetitive effects of Google's practices. It found that the pre-installation requirements and anti-fragmentation agreements were capable of restricting competition and strengthening Google's dominant position in the Android ecosystem.
The case stems from a 2018 decision by the European Commission, which found that Google had required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its Google Search app and Chrome browser as a condition for licensing certain Android applications. The Commission also found that Google's anti-fragmentation agreements restricted the development of alternative Android versions, limiting competition.
The Commission originally imposed a fine of 4.34 billion euros (4.94 billion U.S. dollars). In 2022, the General Court of the EU partially annulled one aspect of the decision concerning certain revenue-sharing agreements but upheld the Commission's core findings and reduced the fine to 4.125 billion euros.
The CJEU also rejected Google's arguments that its conduct was objectively justified and upheld the General Court of the EU's recalculation of the fine.■
