Who owns Android?
Android is owned by Alphabet (the United States, NASDAQ: GOOGL), which has owned the brand since 17 August 2005.[1]
Evidence: Alphabet Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-05, SEC EDGAR, 5 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Alphabet Inc. verified
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Mountain View, California
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Founded
- 2003
- Category
- Internet & digital › Platforms & devices › Operating systems & browsers
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: GOOGL
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Android
Android was a startup building software for digital cameras before it pivoted to phones, and Google bought it in 2005 for a reported $50 million, one of the most valuable acquisitions ever made at that price. It now runs on the large majority of the world's smartphones.
What Alphabet's annual report says about Android
Sentences about Android from Alphabet's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Android: In July 2018, the EC announced its decision that certain provisions in Google's Android-related distribution agreements infringed European antitrust laws, imposed a 4.3 billion fine, and directed the termination of the conduct at issue.
We appealed the EC decision and implemented changes to certain of our Android distribution practices.
In August 2025, we agreed to a settlement with the ACCC requiring, among other things, changes to our Android agreements.
How often Alphabet names Android in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named more often than it was three years earlier.
Ownership timeline of Android
Where Android sits in Alphabet
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Alphabet ownership tree →
See the full Alphabet brand portfolio (13) →
Other brands owned by Alphabet
Alphabet controls 13 brands on Brandtree, 13 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
- Fitbit (2007)
- Gmail (2004)
- Google Chrome (2008)
- Google Cloud (2008)
- Google DeepMind (2010)
- Google Maps (2005)
- Google Nest (2010)
- Google Play (2008)
- Google Search (1998)
- Waymo (2009)
- Waze (2008)
- YouTube (2005)
Other brands in operating systems & browsers, and who owns them
The 18 brands in operating systems & browsers on Brandtree belong to 6 owners. The largest is Apple, with 7; Alphabet has 2.
About the owner: Alphabet
Alphabet is a publicly listed company headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States, founded in 1998. Brandtree records 13 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: GOOGL.
Alphabet was created in 2015 as a holding company above Google, separating the search and advertising business from ventures such as Waymo and Verily. Google itself was founded in 1998 by two Stanford graduate students, and advertising against search results still produces the overwhelming majority of the group's revenue.
🇺🇸 Android and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States. 478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Android is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Android?
The parent company of Android is Alphabet, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is Android American?
Yes. Android originated in the United States in 2003 and its owner, Alphabet, is also headquartered in the United States.
Since when has Alphabet owned Android?
Alphabet has owned Android since 17 August 2005.
Is Android still owned by Alphabet?
Yes. As of 9 October 2026, Android is still owned by Alphabet. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Alphabet Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-05 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 5 February 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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