Chapter 943 Sky Group

On September 5, the Wall Street Journal quoted sources as saying that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was accepting a complaint related to the Android system.

Android companies are accused of using the Android system to promote other services and pre-install partner apps to combat competitors.

According to data from market research company IDC, currently in the domestic smartphone market in the United States, Android system accounts for the largest share of 59%, Apple iOS accounts for 38%, and Microsoft Windows Phone system accounts for only 2.35%.

According to internal sources, the FTC's investigation is still in its early stages, and it is unclear whether the FTC will devote dedicated energy to investigating the matter.

However, the FTC has not yet contacted Android companies to inquire about this investigation.

Sources said that some app developers and other network service providers have complained about Android, and the FTC has recently held discussions with them.

One of the issues the FTC is concerned about is whether Android companies use the Android system to strengthen their leading advantages in certain application fields.

For example, the Android system has its own search service built into it. Smartphone manufacturers can use the Android system for free, but if they want to access the app store and other services and enhance the functions of their Android phones, they must agree to put their search service in a prominent position. Location.

In addition, the Android system will also include applications including Twitter, Woaw, WoawChat and YouTube built into the system.

IT companies including Microsoft and Google, as well as some application developers, said that this practice is suspected of unfair competition...

After all, IC Capital, the owner of Android, is also the major shareholder of Twitter and Woaw Technology.

FairSearch, an alliance of large technology companies including Microsoft, said Android companies abused their market position and welcomed the FTC's investigation into Android.

The organization said: "Android companies have adopted a series of strategies that violate competitive principles, making it more difficult and costly for innovative companies to expand into the market."

The FTC declined to comment on the news.

An FTC spokesman said: "The FTC's investigations are not public and we do not comment on an investigation or the existence of an investigation."

In addition, EU antitrust officials also stated that if necessary, they will conduct relevant investigations on the Android system.

After this incident broke out, Barron and Ivanta understood that in addition to the methods of competitors such as Microsoft and Google, these complaints about Android companies had more forces behind them...

After all, after IC Capital participated in the counterattack against Vanguard Group’s control of Sinclair Group and snatched Sky TV from Comcast Group, Jewish capital was bound to rebound.

At present, it seems that they will first target the Android company controlled by IC Capital.

Of course, Ivanta is not completely defenseless against this. The super action committee "Fair Vision" she controls took action first, mobilizing some of the congressmen she supported to put pressure on the FTC, asking them to "Caution needs to be exercised" in investigations of Android companies.

In addition, the Android company also issued an announcement to explain some of the accusations.

For example, its search, map and other services are part of the convenient services provided by the Android system to users, and this is true for both the iOS system and the WP system.

In addition, regarding the pre-installation of APPs, mobile phone manufacturers themselves also have corresponding permissions to pre-install them. The accusations against Android companies are completely unreasonable.

On the other hand, Ivanta has not relaxed her "pursuit" of Sky TV...

After the Comcast Group's board of directors decided not to raise the acquisition price for Sky TV, IC Capital's team continued to negotiate with Murdoch...

Finally, the two parties reached an agreement on September 13, and IC Capital will complete the acquisition of Sky TV for US$28.5 billion in cash.

The handover between the two parties has begun from the moment the agreement was reached and will be completed within a month.

To be precise, what IC Capital acquired was not just Sky TV, but Sky Group, but Sky TV was more famous among them.

Sky TV (BSkyB) is only a subsidiary of Sky Group. Currently, Sky Group's business covers media (Sky TV), Internet, telecommunications and telephone industries.

After completing the acquisition, IC Capital announced that after the acquisition, Remy Darroch will continue to serve as CEO of Sky Group, and Ivanta TP will serve as chairman of Sky Group.

Remi Darrochi joined Sky Group as chief financial officer in 2004 and was promoted to chief executive three years later.

Under his leadership, Sky experienced a period of rapid growth that catapulted the company into a European giant.

Since he has done well in the Sky Group before, Barron and Ivanta are also willing to continue to give him opportunities, especially after Remi Darroch met with Ivanta's representative Hedda Kahn, he said After supporting IC Capital’s acquisition attitude towards Sky Group.

Anyway, if the other party's performance is not as good as expected, then replace it...

In fact, SKY Group has long been dissatisfied with the British and Irish markets. In recent years, it has expanded in other European countries by acquiring local companies, and its market share in Germany, Italy and Austria has steadily increased year by year.

After the acquisition, Ivanta told Remi Darroch that he would support Sky Group's expansion in multiple fields and more markets, hoping to increase the number of paying users in Europe from less than 20 million now to more than 25 million within three years.

And it will also achieve substantial development in the fields of network, new media, telecommunications and other businesses.

Due to the rapid development of streaming media such as YouTube and Netflix in the past two years, Ivanta also hopes that Sky Group will pay attention to the development of streaming media.

Before this, Sky Group had its own streaming platform, but the development was not very good. Ivanta proposed a bold idea, which is to promote the merger of Sky Group's streaming platform with DailyVedio...

You know, behind DailyVedio are SEM Group and O2 Telecom, which were competitors of Sky Group before this.

But now...

And the most important thing is that if the merger of the two parties is achieved, it means that SEM Group, Sky TV, and even some other small TV stations and content providers will share the platform, which can be said to be of great significance.

"It is very difficult here. After all, the other party has the advantage, and it is difficult to guarantee our interests..."

Hearing Ivanta's proposal, Remi Darroch looked embarrassed, but still said:

"We can communicate with the other party and try it. If we can reach a cooperation, it will be a good thing for us."

Of course, the difficulty is not small, because although IC Capital is controlled by Barron, all parties also have corresponding interests, and balancing these interests is not so easy.

But if it is completed, then DailyVedio, as the largest streaming platform in Britain and even Europe, will be able to compete with platforms such as YouTube and Netflix.