Back in July, the EU Commission slapped Google with a huge fine worth €4.3 billion. Why? The Mountain View-based giant was accused of having abused the dominant position of its Android operating system. The EU had already inflicted a €2.4 billion fine on Google in 2017 for having rigged its Google Shopping price comparison service to the detriment of its competitors. In truth, Android has been on Brussels’ hitlist since 2015. After a year-long investigation, in 2016 Google was formally accused of forcing smartphone producers such as Samsung and Huawei to pre-install Google Search and programme it as either the default or only search app on their devices. Using this strategy, Google ensured that it was present on the majority of devices sold in Europe, given that 80% of the population use Androids. In the eyes of the Commission, this strategy was a way of preserving and strengthening its dominance in the field of internet searches – and one that violated the EU’s rules on competition.

Google’s response

Google’s response was to the point: “Android has created more choice for all. It’s also free. For producers, having access to Android means they do not have to buy or develop expensive mobile operating systems. The result? Smartphones are now accessible at considerably lower prices, from just €45, and have become much more accessible for many more people. Nowadays, there are over 24,000 devices – belonging to more than 1300 brands – that use Android. European developers have given us the possibility to distribute our apps to more than a billion people around the world. Android is not a one-way street – it’s more like a motorway with lots of lanes to choose from. We will appeal the Commission’s decision.”

Facebook’s fine

In the meantime, Facebook were hit with a fine of their own on 11 July. It was the first fine handed down for negligence surrounding the case of Cambridge Analytica, the consultancy company – now bankrupt – accused of harvesting the data of 87 million users in dozens of countries through the US social network founded by Mark Zuckerberg, for purposes relating to political propaganda. The fine was announced by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office and amounted to around £500,000, or over €565,000. Facebook – who received a fine in excess of €90 million from the EU in 2017 for other misdemeanours – is accused by the British authorities of not having ensured that the data it allowed Cambridge Analytica to collect had been properly destroyed.

Other fines

However, the eye-watering fines inflicted on Google and Facebook are not the only ones to have been handed down by the European competitions authority, which is making a pretty penny as a result of the mistakes made by the big tech companies. Four consumer electronics companies – Philips, Asus, Pioneer and Denon & Marantz – have received fines from the EU Commission equalling €111.2 million for dictating the prices at which online resellers should sell their products. The fines were imposed following a 17-month investigation into the electronics industry which identified “commercial practices susceptible to limiting competition”. According to the EU, Philips, Asus, Pioneer and Denon & Marantz restricted their ability of online stores to independently set the prices of their products, including notebooks and domestic electrical appliances. The EU investigation also revealed that Pioneer restricted the resellers’ ability to sell between one country and another, meaning it had engaged in illegal practices in 12 EU countries, while the other companies fined had only done so in one or two. “As a consequence of these illegal practices, the prices of many electrical consumer products were much higher for millions of Europeans,” said Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition. Asus was fined €63.5 million, Philips €29.8 million, Pioneer €10.2 million and Denon & Marantz €7.7 million.