Google was recently accused by the European Commission of “bundling” it’s apps together for Androids and was fined a startling $5 billion. In response to this, Google untied all 11 of their apps from each other and decided to establish a licensing fee for apps that were previously pre-installed for free.
The licensing fees will be paid by the smartphone manufacturers, not the buyers. The fee depends on the how high end the phone is and what country it is in.
According to some unofficial leaked documents, the countries in the European Commission will be placed in a three-tier system, which does not apply to tablets for they would have a separate fine range. The highest fee is $40 per 550+ pixel density handset in countries such as Norway, Sweden, The United Kingdom, and Germany. Devices below 550+ pixel density would be fined $20, those below 400ppi would have to pay $10 and phones below even these in the lowest tier countries would be fined $2.50 per handset.
Google is, however, in the process of appealing the monstrous fine In the European Commission’s General Court and has yet to actually pay them.
This leak has led us to believe that Google is not indeed untying its bundle but is still technically adhering to the antitrust agreement. However, due to this only being a leak, it is uncertain if Google would move forward with this fee structure.
