Google has decided to appeal the antitrust decision issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Android in October, the company said in an emailed statement dated 23 December. "We have decided to appeal the CCI’s decision on Android as we believe it presents a major setback for our Indian users and businesses who trust Android's security features, and potentially raising the cost of mobile devices. Android has greatly benefitted Indian users, developers, and OEMs, and powered India’s digital transformation. We look forward to making our case and remain committed to our users and partners." — Google spokesperson CCI had imposed this order on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets related to its Android ecosystem. Why does this matter: If the order were to be implemented as is, Google would have had to make significant changes to Android and pay a penalty of ₹1338 crores (~$162 million). Some of the notable changes include not preinstalling Google apps on Android, allowing the listing of other app stores on Play Store, and allowing users to set another search engine as default right from the device set-up screen. Why Google might win a favourable decision: Google stands a strong chance of winning a judgement in its favour given that many experts whom MediaNama spoke to also believed that the order could be detrimental to users and developers (whom the order intends to benefit) in the following two ways: Could harm users: As per the order, Play Store must show third-party app stores and…
