Given how updating apps automatically in the background wasn’t possible until recently, I do think Google wanted a strong monopoly over android. Yes, they allowed device manufacturers to pre install their own store, but they still had to include many of the Google apps to call it Android.
I’m guessing the reason to create an entire store was so they didn’t have to pay Google a higher percentage?
back in the day it wasn’t clear that Google wanted a strong monopoly control over Android. Amazon was just another contender in the ecosystem.
Given how updating apps automatically in the background wasn’t possible until recently, I do think Google wanted a strong monopoly over android. Yes, they allowed device manufacturers to pre install their own store, but they still had to include many of the Google apps to call it Android.
Moreso so that they can get their own 30% cut.