The CCI's Google orders: How does it impact innovation for apps

Opinion split on how ecosystem will change after regulator asks tech giant to stop misusing its 'dominant position'

As Google evaluates its response to two recent penalties slapped by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), here is a look at the app economy.

Apps are bread and butter for mobile operating systems. India ranks second in the number of mobile downloads, with nearly 27 billion downloads in 2021, according to Deloitte. Accounting for 11.6 per cent of global app downloads, the Indian smartphone user spends more than 4 hours a day on apps. The revenue for apps is expected to reach $2.3 billion in the country by 2026.

Google’s Android operating system (OS) controls 95 per cent of