UK Competition Watchdog Targets Apple and Google in Mobile Market Showdown
1min read Apple and Google are set to face a formal competition investigation in the UK due to their dominant roles in the mobile browser and app markets. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Friday released a report that included a preliminary decision from an independent panel tasked with conducting a detailed examination of the mobile browser market.
The report proposes that the CMA, under the upcoming Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act (DMCC), should scrutinize the activities of Apple and Google within the mobile ecosystems. The DMCC, which is set to take effect next year, aims to curb anti-competitive practices in digital markets. Similar to the EU's Digital Markets Act, it grants the CMA the authority to designate companies possessing "strategic market status," indicating significant market power in a digital business area.
With this designation, the CMA could enforce substantial behavioral changes on companies, such as ending the self-preferencing of their services, mandating interoperability to ensure seamless software integration, and prohibiting anti-competitive conduct.
For Apple, the CMA's investigative panel expressed concerns that the tech giant's App Store rules limit competitors' ability to offer new, innovative features that could benefit consumers—such as enabling faster webpage loading speeds on iPhone applications. The panel added that numerous smaller UK developers are inclined to use progressive web applications, which allow companies to offer apps outside the App Store. However, this technology has not been fully adopted on iOS devices.
The panel also raised issues regarding a revenue-sharing agreement between Google and Apple, making Google the default search engine on iPhones, which "significantly diminishes their incentives to compete financially in the iOS mobile browser sector."
Margot Daly, the Chair of the CMA's independent panel, stated that the market functions best when competitors can develop innovative options for consumers. She noted that the lack of smooth competition between different mobile browsers is hindering innovation in the UK.
Apple responded to the report, expressing disagreement with its findings. The company voiced concerns that market interventions based on the DMCC could compromise user privacy and impede the development of technologies that set Apple apart.
The CMA also examined restrictions on the distribution of gaming services on Apple's mobile app distribution platform. However, after Apple permitted cloud gaming services into the App Store, the investigation into this matter has been dropped.
Stakeholders have until December 13 to comment on the panel's provisional findings, with a final decision anticipated in March 2025.
