Google Will Charge For Android Apps In Europe

Due to EU’s punishment and the fine of $5 billion in July, Google will no longer bundle its mobile apps on Android in Europe.

On Tuesday, it was claimed by Google that a paid license will be offered to European manufacturers of tablets and phones which have interest in including Gmail, Maps, Google-owned Youtube and Google Play app store. Chrome browser and Google’s search engine will be included with another license.

The head of Google’s Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, stated that the licenses would be available since October 26; though, he didn’t mention how much it would cost.

According to his blog post, it was said by Lockheimer that there would be an arrangement on launching a new license for tablets and smartphones that are shipped to the European Economic Area (EEA). This will happen because Google Search and Chrome preinstallation brought out development funding and Android free distribution. In addition, he claimed that Android will still be open source and free.

This news was announced after Google was fined by the European Commission. This summer, the commission blamed Google for hurting the industry’s competition as it practices business around the operating system on Android mobiles. Last week, Google submitted a request to the EU’s General Court in about this punishment.

This change is likely to shift Google’s mobile business. Initially, it planned to spread its service usage by providing free Android. Advertising and search accounts for nearly 90 percent in Alphabet’s annual sales (Alphabet is Google’s parent company).

Thanks to this business model, Android became a big achievement. Android was first launched a decade ago, which has powered approximately 90 percent of global smartphones.