Android is perhaps the closest in comparison to Microsoft/Internet Explorer. Spin off Android into its own company, including the Play Store. There would be nothing stopping Google from keeping their apps in the Play Store, but they would sit on the same level as competing mapping and search apps, and users would choose which one to use instead of have it preinstalled.
You need to remember that android's customers aren't the end users of the phones, its customers are the OEMs. Spinning off android into its own company separate from Google wouldn't mean the end user gets a preference of which mapping or search app to install, it means the company selling the phone (either the phone brand or the cell network) gets to choose.
The end user would get a choice by buying a specific phone, though, no? The Android device market, at least, isn't heavily monopolized, and there are many options, including devices that are explicitly advertised as open and cruft-free.
You have the option as an Android provider to use android and provide your own services OR ship the device with Google Play services. Amazon for example does the former.
I actually think Android is a really bad example precisely because all the useful google apps ARE separate from the OS. Its just that what people think of as android is actually mostly Play Services now.
I would download all those, but there's also a lot of Google stuff pre-installed on my phone that I wouldn't have downloaded: the Google search bar, Google assistant, Google music, Hangouts, Google+, just to name a few.
OK but Android is a loss leader for Google's search business. If you spin off Android and Android is no longer subsidized by the search business doesnt that either
1. Raise prices for customers since now someone has to pay for Android development/upkeep/progress, or
2. Starve and kill Android and leave customers with just one major app store (Apple)?
