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Google gets 207B won punishment from South Korea’s KFTC for preventing Android forking
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has issued a $207 billion won ($176.64 million) fine imposed on Google for protecting OEMs from Android. The anti-trust regulator said Google’s contractual terms with OEMs lead to abuse of its top position, which has prevented competition from the mobile OS market.
According to Reuters, Google intends to appeal the decision, claiming that it “disregards the benefits offered by Android compatibility with other apps and undermines the benefits enjoyed by consumers.” KFTC’s Chairperson Joh Sung-wook maintains that the ruling is “meaningful in a way that it provides an opportunity to restore future competitive pressure in the mobile OS and app market markets.”
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Talking about the decision, the KFTC said Google had disrupted competition by pressuring OEMs to comply with the “anti-fragmentation agreement (AFA).” As part of AFA, Google requires manufacturers not to offer Android Forks to their devices, which has helped to strengthen its market dominance in the mobile OS market.
The report indicates the example of Google forcing Samsung to switch to a different OS to its smartwatch back in 2013 after Google realized that the original OS was a violation of AFA. Interestingly, Samsung has recently moved from Tizen to Wear OS on its smartwatches.
In line with the fine, the decision prevents Google from forcing OEMs to sign AFA contracts, thus allowing them to offer modified Android versions on their devices. The KFTC decision came on the same day as the latest amendment to South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act came into effect.
The amendment, forcing Google and Apple to adopt alternative payment methods, was passed late last month. It also prevents companies from delaying the adoption of applications or improperly blocking them from their market. If Google and Apple fail to comply with the new law, they could be fined up to 3% of their total South Korean currency.
Samsung’s executive chairman Jay Y. Lee (Lee Jae-yong in Korean) topped the Forbes 2024 Richest Korean list for the first time. On April 17, Forbes revealed that the Samsung boss is the richest in South Korea, with his assets increasing by $3.5 billion, bringing his total net worth to $11.5 billion.
Thanks to a rise in Samsung’s stocks, Samsung’s Lee jumped to the top of the Forbes 2024 Richest Korean list. Notably, the company’s stocks significantly hiked after the revelation that it’s developing high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI computing for NVIDIA.
Forbes 2023 Richest Korean, Kim Byung-ju, slipped to second this year with assets worth $9.7 billion. The third place went to Seo Jung-jin, honorary chairman of Celltrion, with assets of $7.5 billion.
Cho Jung-ho, chairman of Meritz Financial Group, ranked fourth with $6.2 billion, and Chung Mong-koo, honorary chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, was fifth with $4.6 billion.
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Samsung established an AI chip design-dedicated Advanced Processor Lab in Silicon Valley, US. Formerly known as the Advanced Institute of Technology, Samsung’s SAIT is said to have formed the new Lab to strengthen its AI chip R&D in the US.
BusinessKorea reports that the new Samsung Advanced Processor Lab to focus on developing next-gen AI semiconductor design assets in the US. The assets are said to be focused on the RISC-V area, which serves as a foundational design asset for semiconductor chip design.
Samsung’s initiative with RISC-V is interpreted as a move towards technological independence. Therefore, the company is expanding its R&D organization in Silicon Valley, aiming to enhance design capabilities to disrupt the market currently dominated by NVIDIA.
Amid the booming AI era, the market of advanced semiconductors is also expanding. Samsung has completed the development of its Mach-1 AI semiconductor and supplied prototypes to global firms including Korea’s Naver. The company has also started the development of Mach-2.
Under the CHIPS Act, Samsung received huge subsidies to boost investment in the US. It’s worth noting that the Biden govt awarded a 12% subsidy of Samsung’s total investment, which is significantly higher than Intel and TSMC’s subsidy.
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Samsung’s first 3nm Exynos 2500 chip could outpace Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in power efficiency. Both chipsets will power the next-gen Galaxy flagships, scheduled for an early 2025 launch. Recent input suggests that Exynos is returning as a tough rival to Snapdragon.
The Exynos 2500 will be made on Samsung’s 2nd-gen 3nm process technology. The S24’s Exynos 2400 chipset impressed the industry with significant improvements over its predecessor. The company appears to be leveling up the game next year.
Thanks to the cutting-edge process node, Samsung’s next Exynos could finally surpass its Snapdragon counterpart in power efficiency. The company may utilize its advanced FOWLP in the Exynos 2500 to make it run at higher clock speeds at the same power consumption level.
Qualcomm is facing power efficiency concerns with its recent Snapdragon chips. Due to reduced efficiency, phone makers are forced to bring up to 5000mAh battery. Samsung apparently seized this opportunity to bring back its in-house Exynos back to the contest.
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