South Korea Fines Google for Abusing Smartphone Dominance
- Company said to have impeded development of competing software
- Regulator orders change to Google contracts with manufacturers
South Korea fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google $177 million for hampering the development of rivals to its Android operating system, sustaining a campaign targeting the U.S. search giant’s dominance in smartphone software.
Regulators accuse Google, whose mobile operating system powers more than 80% of smartphones around the world, of using its immense bargaining power to squeeze out the competition. The Korea Fair Trade Commission said Google’s anti-fragmentation agreements (AFA) with manufacturers like Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. prevented gadget makers from developing or using modified versions of the Android OS. The watchdog banned Google from forcing manufacturers to sign AFA contracts and ordered that it modify existing ones.