Between this and their main rival reaching a trillion dollar valuation would someone explain to me what the EU fine was for?
In Europe, Android dominates the smartphone OS market with ~75% market share and most come pre-bundled with Google software. With names like "messages", "photos", or "calendar" it's not really clear that these are Google products or that they can be changed. You basically end up with most of that market share using Google software without even understanding that they have a choice.
I believe the logic behind the fine was very similar to the USA vs Microsoft anti trust suit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor...).
To put it in perspective though, the fine Google received was less than 2 weeks worth of revenue and will probably be lowered if they appeal. It's not really as big a deal as the media made it out to be.
I'm not saying I agree with the fine, but I do understand how, in a certain light, the EU see Google's practice as a bit monopolistic.
No, Android OS is at 74.2% of the EU market.
It's closer to 50/50 in the US, but in the EU and worldwide Android dominates the market and will probably continue to rise as Huawei continues to expand.
Multiple sources for the 74.2% number:
http://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/mobile/europe
https://www.mobileeurope.co.uk/press-wire/ios-and-android-ga...
This is very, very disingenuous. If the only way to have a successful product in the American and European markets is to have the Play Store, then yes, there is some level of force there.
"see Fire devices and the Chinese mobile market for google free Android examples."
Google wasn't allowed in China to begin with, so that's a very poor comparison. And the Fire Android devices flopped pretty badly.
"Also you're making sound like they were "bundling" trash, the apps are useful and of higher quality than most apps on the platform"
Completely irrelevant; they're still forcing the bundling.