Google Has Raked In $21 Billion In Android Profit, Oracle Says
By REINHARDT KRAUSE - 3:22 PM ET
Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google has earned $21 billion in profit from more than 3 billion activations of Android-
based smartphones, Oracle‘s (ORCL) lawyer said in opening arguments in the second trial pitting the
database maker against the Internet search giant.
Oracle claims Google violated its copyright on parts of the Java programming language when it created the
Android mobile operating system, now used in mobile phones worldwide. Oracle is seeking $8.8 billion in
damages.
Oracle lawyer Peter Bicks said Google has raked in $42 billion in revenue from Android-based
smartphones, according to a Bloomberg report.
Google “took a short cut, and it was at Oracle’s expense,” Bicks reportedly told the jury in San Francisco
federal court.
Oracle claims Google infringed on copyrights covering 37 Java application programming interfaces, or APIs
— the critical shortcuts that allow developers to write programs to work across software platforms.
Even if Google loses, analysts have noted its strong balance sheet. Google reported $75.3 billion in cash,
cash equivalents and marketable securities in its Q1 earnings release.
Android’s chief competition is Apple’s iOS software, used in iPhones and other Apple mobile devices.
Unlike Apple (AAPL), Google has made Android open source and widely available to mobile phone makers,
such as Samsung.
Google says it should be able to use Java without paying a fee under the fair-use provision of
copyright law. Oracle acquired Java when it purchased Sun Microsystems in 2010.
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