The UK Competition and Markets Authority has called for a formal investigation into Apple and Google’s dominance in the mobile market.
Last Friday, the CMA’s independent research group published preliminary results on the Apple and Google mobile ecosystems. He suggested that technology companies have “an effective duopoly in mobile ecosystems, including operating systems, app stores and web browsers.”
Examples of this include a revenue-sharing agreement between both companies that “reduces their financial incentive to compete in mobile browsers on iOS,” plus both companies allegedly “manipulating[ing] options to make your browsers the clearest or simplest option.
The group also spoke to small UK developers who said they would like to use third-party app stores but are being prevented from doing so because the technology cannot “fully take off on iOS devices”.
Preliminary research also focused on cloud gaming. However, when Apple made changes to allow cloud gaming in its App Store, this part of the investigation was abandoned in August 2024.
As a result of its findings, the group recommended that a formal investigation be carried out into Apple and Google under new Digital Markets Act rules that will come into force next year.
“Markets work better when rival companies are able to develop and offer innovative options to consumers,” said the chair of the CMA’s independent inquiry, Margot Daly.
“Through our research, we have tentatively discovered that competition between different mobile browsers is not working well and this is holding back innovation in the UK.”
In response to the findings, Apple told CNBC that any such intervention would “undermine user privacy and hinder [its] ability to create the kind of technology that sets Apple apart.
He continued: “Apple believes in thriving, dynamic markets where innovation can flourish. We face competition in every segment and jurisdiction where we operate, and our focus is always on the trust of our users.”
The CMA announced that it intended to investigate Apple and Google for their influence on the mobile market in June 2022.
The preliminary investigation began in November 2022, which also included a Phase 2 investigation into Apple’s cloud gaming restrictions.
Last May, the investigation was put on hold after both technology companies challenged the CMA at the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The investigation resumed in December 2023.
