news/AAPL/2023.01.19/Indian startups rejoice as Android ruling against Google upheld.txt

NEW DELHI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Startups in India cheered
a decision by the Supreme Court on Thursday to uphold an
antitrust order that forces Google to change how it runs its
popular Android platform, saying the ruling would open the
market for rivals and boost competition.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) ordered Google in
October to make a series of changes, such as refraining from
agreements that ensure exclusivity of its search services and
mandatory pre-installation of its apps. It also told Google to
allow third-party app stores to be housed within its Play Store.In a major setback for the Alphabet Inc unit, the
Supreme Court of India on Thursday declined Google's request to
block the antitrust directives, which the company says would
hurt consumers and stall growth of the Android ecosystem in
India. Google now needs to comply within seven days.Rohan Verma, CEO of maps service MapmyIndia which launched
an app in 2004, told Reuters his app had not gained market share
over the years because the Google Maps app was pre-installed on
many Android phones.The CCI order states Google can't impose such requirements
now."We are elated," said Verma. "There was negative impact over
the years, we hope now consumers and device makers use our app
more."About 97% of 600 million smartphone devices in India run on
Android, according to Counterpoint Research estimates. Apple has
just a 3% share.Google licenses the Android system to smartphone makers,
saying it provides more choice for everyone and agreements it
strikes - which critics say are anti-competitive - help keep the
operating system free and open-source.Calling the ruling a "watershed moment", Rakesh Deshmukh,
CEO of Indus OS, which runs a rival app store to Google's, said
allowing other app stores within the U.S. firm's Play Store in
India would give consumers more choice and promote use of apps.Naval Chopra, a lawyer at India's Shardul Amarchand
Mangaldas, which has challenged Google in courts in the past,
said Thursday's court decision was a landmark one."This is a landmark decision in the history of competition
law in India and globally," he said, adding the CCI directives
"may well lead to a new Indian competitor in video hosting,
mapping, web browsers or, dare we say it, search."(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil
Additional reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi
Editing by Mark Potter)