The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority, or CMA, officially designated Apple and Google with strategic market status for their respective mobile platforms on Wednesday. This decision covers the companies’ operating systems, app stores, web browsers, and browser engines. The designation empowers the regulator to implement targeted actions aimed at increasing competition in this sector.
The CMA initiated investigations into Apple and Google in January. By July, the regulator had proposed specific interventions that signaled the tech giants would likely receive the strategic market status designation. To reach its final conclusion, the CMA consulted with more than 150 stakeholders and held discussions with both Apple and Google. The authority ultimately determined that both companies hold substantial and entrenched market power, giving them a position of strategic significance in their respective mobile ecosystems.
Among its key findings, the CMA discovered that mobile device users in the UK are very unlikely to switch between Apple and Google’s platforms after they have committed to one ecosystem. The report also noted that businesses must distribute their apps through these companies’ app stores to reach consumers effectively. The regulator also stated that emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, are unlikely to diminish the market power of Apple or Google within the five-year period covered by the designation.
An executive director for digital markets at the CMA stated that while thousands of businesses across the economy use these mobile platforms to market and sell to millions of customers, the platforms’ rules may be limiting innovation and competition. The CMA clarified that designating the platforms with strategic market status is not a finding of wrongdoing. Instead, it allows the regulator to consider proportionate and targeted interventions. The goal is to ensure mobile platforms are open to effective competition and that consumers and businesses can have confidence they are being treated fairly.
Both Apple and Google have pushed back against the decision. Apple warned that the move could result in users in the UK losing timely access to new features, an issue that has already occurred with the rollout of Apple Intelligence. Google stated that it did not see the rationale for the CMA’s decision.