January 23, 2025 – The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened two strategic market status (SMS) investigations into Apple and Google, focusing on their dominant positions within the mobile ecosystem. The investigations will examine the companies’ control over mobile operating systems, app stores, and mobile browsers, assessing whether their market power hinders competition and innovation.
Mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, are essential in the daily lives of UK consumers, with over 94% of adults owning smartphones. These devices serve as crucial gateways for communication, shopping, and entertainment. The investigation comes in response to the increasing reliance on mobile ecosystems, where nearly all devices in the UK run on either iOS (Apple) or Android (Google), each with exclusive or dominant app stores and browsers.
The CMA will assess several issues, including:
- The level of competition within and between Apple and Google’s ecosystems.
- Whether Apple or Google use their market power to favor their own services and products.
- Potential exploitative practices such as unfair terms imposed on app developers or manipulative “choice architecture” that limits consumer freedom in choosing apps.
The CMA is also considering possible interventions to ensure fairer competition, such as requiring Apple and Google to open access to key functionality or allow alternative payment methods outside their app stores.
With an estimated £28 billion generated by the UK’s app development sector and millions of businesses relying on mobile devices, the CMA believes that fostering a more competitive environment could lead to greater innovation and opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.
The investigation is set to conclude by October 2025, with public comments invited until February 12, 2025.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-to-investigate-apple-and-googles-mobile-ecosystems
