Why can't we uninstall pre-installed software on mobile phones? The profit chain is shocking

While mobile phone software brings convenience, many problems also follow. A recent survey by the Shenzhen Consumer Council shows that 95.32% of smartphones have pre-installed applications, of which 88.91% cannot be uninstalled. These applications steal data flow, occupy memory, steal information, and are almost impossible to uninstall.

Consumers: It is unreasonable not to be able to uninstall

"It runs quietly in the background, takes up a lot of memory, and consumes more and more data." Wang Haitao, who lives in Beijing, told reporters that his mobile phone was pre-installed with a lot of game software when he bought it, which consumes a lot of data. If he is not careful, he will be deducted dozens of yuan if he plays it once.

"These pre-installed software cannot be uninstalled through normal channels. In order to uninstall them, you must obtain ROOT permissions. However, once you obtain permissions and forcibly delete them, the after-sales service of the mobile phone will be affected." Wang Haitao said.

There are many consumers who are troubled by pre-installed software on their phones. In recent years, the number of pre-installed applications on mobile phones has increased. In April 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Mobile Smart Terminals", requiring mobile phone manufacturers to not pre-install five major types of malware from November of the same year. However, the Shenzhen Consumer Association's previous 6,873 questionnaires showed that 95.32% of users said that the mobile phones they purchased had pre-installed applications, of which 88.91% of the pre-installed applications could not be uninstalled, and 98.6% of consumers believed that it was unreasonable that these pre-installed applications could not be uninstalled.

In response to the phenomenon that consumers are troubled by the inability to uninstall pre-installed software on their mobile phones, in October 2014, 23 consumer councils in Guangdong Province jointly wrote to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, requesting that pre-installed application software on mobile phones be separated from system software that supports basic functions of the phone and that consumers be allowed to uninstall it freely.

What kind of interest chain exists behind this?

According to data released by the Guangdong Provincial Consumer Council, there are nearly 300,000 mobile phone applications in the Android market alone, and the current size of the domestic pre-installed software market has exceeded 3 billion yuan. Many businesses are so enthusiastic about the mobile phone pre-installed software business because there is a profit chain behind the mobile phone pre-installed software.

"Generally speaking, mobile phone manufacturers can charge software vendors anywhere from 80 cents to 5 yuan for each software pre-installed on a single mobile phone. Mobile phone manufacturers use this to reduce the cost of mobile phone production, thereby forming a price advantage in the market. Software developers promote the software by pre-installing software, increasing user usage and thus realizing their economic benefits," said an industry insider.

The reporter learned that mobile phone manufacturers initially pre-installed free applications in mobile phones to serve consumers and create selling points for mobile phones. But later, this practice gradually deteriorated and became a means for manufacturers to seek profits, and the user experience became worse and worse.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.