New Android Phones in Turkey Will No Longer Come with Google Services

BY Mahit Huilgol

Published 16 Dec 2019

Google was fined $17.4 million in September last year by the Turkish authority. The authorities found that Google had violated competition law and had given six months to make the changes. Interestingly Google has now informed its Turkish partners that they will not be able to work with them.

Google kicked the storm after it was found guilty of competition law. One of the reasons for this is that Google didn’t allow users to change the default search engine. Apparently, even after the six-month time frame, Google has not added a way to change the default search engine on its Android phones in Turkey.

Google’s statement said, “We’ve informed our business partners that we will not be able to work with them on new Android phones to be released for the Turkish market.” It further adds that “Consumers will be able to purchase existing device models and will be able to use their devices and applications normally. Google’s other services will be unaffected.”

The regulator had instructed Google to change the way the search engine works on Android. They wanted Google to allow consumers to choose a default search engine. The probe concluded that Google had “abused its dominant position and made the efforts of other companies difficult.”

Starting from now, new Android phones sold in Turkey will not come with access to Google Play Store or other services like Gmail and YouTube. Thankfully, the services will continue to exist on existing Android phones. The company is working with the regulators and is hopeful of resolving the issue. Perhaps, Google is trying to put pressure on Turkish authorities by not shipping its services on Android phones sold in Turkey.

[via Reuters]