European court Fined Google of $4.13 billion for using Android to impede rivals, setting a precedent for other regulators to ratchet up pressure.
Alphabet’s company had disputed a previous judgement, but Europe’s second-highest court upheld it Wednesday and cut the penalties from 4.34 billion euros ($4.34 billion).
Record antitrust fine. In three antitrust probes spanning more than a decade, the EU fined Google 8.25 billion euros.
Google lost its battle to a $2.42 billion fine last year, the first of three instances.
“The General Court largely confirms the Commission’s decision that Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and mobile network operators in order to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine,” the court said.
“In order better to reflect the gravity and duration of the infringement, the General Court considers it appropriate however to impose a fine of 4.125 billion euros on Google, its reasoning differing in certain respects from that of the Commission,” judges said.
Google, which can appeal to Europe’s highest court, expressed disappointment.
“We are disappointed that the Court did not annul the decision in full. Android has created more choice for everyone, not less, and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world,” a spokesperson said.
European Union antitrust and tax evasion policies have landed numerous Silicon Valley giants in hot water. Apple’s $15 billion tax evasion penalty will lie in escrow until the matter got resolve.
Seeing how Google fared against Europe’s antitrust regulators, Apple may realise it may have to pay, not to mention the European Commission’s other limits, such as a USB-C charging plug on the iPhone 15.
Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 case already uses USB-C, as anticipated, so the next iPhone may too.
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