Brussels GA&P (April 2015)

In addition, the Commission has formally opened a separate investigation regarding the mobile operating system Android. This system is used in most smartphones and tablets in combination with some of Google’s applications and services. The investigation will focus on: (i) whether Google, by demanding or encouraging smartphone and tablet manufacturers to exclusively pre-install Google’s applications or services, has obstructed the development and market access of other competitor’s apps or services, (ii) whether Google has prevented these manufacturers who want to install Google’s apps and services on their devices from developing and marketing modified versions of Android («Android forks») on other devices, and (iii) whether Google has carried out tying or bundling practices for certain apps and services…