Credit: C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
- Sundar Pichai recently testified at the ongoing Google antitrust trial.
- During his testimony, Pichai admitted that Google strongarms Android OEMs into maintaining their smartphones’ software.
- Essentially, OEMs that let phones languish without updates see a decreased revenue share from Google services.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been following the ongoing Google antitrust lawsuit. Many of the revelations thus far have been interesting or even eyebrow-raising but still very business-focused.
Yesterday, however, Google CEO Sundar Pichai took to the stand (via The Verge). During his testimony, Pichai revealed a tidbit on how Google operates that gives a better look behind the curtain and could help explain users’ frustration with Android phones not seeing security updates. According to Pichai, Google financially incentivizes OEMs to update their phones. Companies that keep phones current with the latest security patches see a higher revenue share from Google services than those that don’t.
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