Google’s mobile operating system Android has generated around $31 billion in revenue and $22 billion in profit since it was launched, an Oracle lawyer told a US court hearing the company’s copyright lawsuit against Google.
Google lawyers didn’t discuss the figure, according to a transcript of the hearing in California last week. But he said that Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, might disclose more information about the operating system’s revenue as part of the court proceedings, according to Reuters.
Android launched with the release of Android alpha back in 2007. The first commercial version however was released in September 2008.
Oracle is accusing Google of using Java without paying for it to develop its OS. Google said on Wednesday in a court filing that the Android disclosures should not have been made public and asked the court to seal the document.
The document, which was available electronically, was removed from the public portion of the court’s computer systems.
The case involves how much copyright protection should be afforded to the Java programming language, which Google used to design Android. Oracle is asking for royalties for Google’s use of Java, although Google says it should be able to use Java without paying a fee.
SOURCE: Reuters.
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.