On: Google to Charge Phone Makers for Android Apps in ...

[394549]

> This is horrible for Europe - where end users will eventually pay more for their preferred 'Google Android'.

It won't be "horrible for Europe." Those users have always paid for these apps in one way or another.

[writepub → 394549]

What am I missing here? Google isn't changing the data they gather via their apps. They're adding a $ cost for access to it.

You're basically paying twice - with your more expensive Android devices, and Google's regular data tracking. This is bad for Europe

[simion314 → writepub]

Samsung may decide to use different apps not Google ones, they may decide to use a Chromium fork with Bing as search engine so your data will not go do Google, maybe Mozilla will manage to do a deal with a big manufacturer and put Firefox as default and nobody will have to pay.

[writepub → simion314]

What has stopped them from doing this all this while? A shell company by Samsung renders any deals with Google impotent - a strategy used by many Chinese OEMs who have Google Android for international markets and their own app stores within China.

This is not my opinion. If you go to a VC or even YC with these claims, they will counter with the widely available data pointing towards the high probability of a third ecosystem failing.