ntr54-C_202401645EN.000101-E0054
(54) In case AT.40099 Google Android, paragraphs 284-305, the Commission assessed whether manufacturers, users and application developers would switch away from Android app stores to app stores for other licensable smart mobile operating systems in the event of a small but significant non-transitory decrease of quality (‘SSNDQ’) of the former. In general, an SSNDQ is applied as a conceptual framework for a qualitative assessment of demand substitution. The Commission does not usually assess whether such an SSNDQ would be profitable for a hypothetical monopolist. Moreover, a quantitative application of the SSNDQ test is subject to several difficulties, including in relation to the quantification of quality. In its judgment of 14 September 2022, Google and Alphabet v Commission, T-604/18, EU:T:2022:541, paragraphs 177 and 180, the General Court confirmed that ‘ the SSNDQ test […] did constitute relevant evidence for the purpose of defining the relevant market ’ while at the same time stating that ‘ defining a precise quantitative standard of degradation of quality of the target product cannot be a prerequisite for the application of the SSNDQ test. […] All that matters is that the quality degradation remains small, albeit significant and non-transitory.’
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.