UK Begins Market Investigation into Apple and Google's Mobile Dominance

The UK's competition watchdog has begun its investigation into the market dominance of Apple and Google's mobile browsers, months after it said it was considering a high-level probe.

app store blue banner uk fixed
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced Tuesday that responses to its June consultation had revealed "substantial support" for a full investigation into how Apple and Google dominate the market and how Apple restricts cloud gaming through its App Store.

The consultation found 86% of respondents support taking a closer look at Apple and Google's market dominance. Browser vendors, web developers, and cloud gaming service providers said the tech giants' mobile ecosystems are harming their businesses, holding back innovation, and adding unnecessary costs.

The feedback effectively justifies the findings of a year-long study by the CMA into Apple and Google's mobile ecosystems, which the regulatory body called an "effective duopoly" that allows the companies to "exercise a stranglehold over these markets." According to the CMA, 97% of all mobile web browsing in the UK in 2021 happened on browsers powered by either Apple's or Google's browser engine, so any restrictions can have a major impact on users' experiences.

"Many UK businesses and web developers tell us they feel that they are being held back by restrictions set by Apple and Google," said Sarah Cardell, interim chief executive of the CMA, in a statement.

"We plan to investigate whether the concerns we have heard are justified and, if so, identify steps to improve competition and innovation in these sectors."

As part of the market investigation, which is required to end within 18 months, the CMA can request extensive information from Apple to draw conclusions and implement legally binding remedies, which could potentially include orders that require Apple to make material changes to its practices.

An Apple spokesperson said: "We will continue to engage constructively with the Competition and Markets Authority to explain how our approach promotes competition and choice, while ensuring consumers' privacy and security are always protected."

Separately, the CMA continues to examine Apple's ‌‌App Store‌‌ terms and conditions in a competition law investigation that started in March 2021, and the UK government is empowering its Digital Markets Unit with statutory powers to penalize companies that do not meet its rules with considerable fines. The British government says it will present regulations to combat anti-competitive abuses before May next year in the form of a Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Bill.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

10 Products Still Coming From Apple in 2025

Friday April 11, 2025 4:14 pm PDT by
Apple may have updated several iPads and Macs late last year and early this year, but there are still multiple new devices that we're looking forward to seeing in 2025. Most will come in September or October, but there could be a few surprises before then. We've rounded up a list of everything that we're still waiting to see from Apple in 2025. iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro - We get...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iPhone 6s MacRumors YouTube

Apple Says These Products Are Now Vintage

Tuesday April 15, 2025 9:53 am PDT by
Apple today updated its vintage products list to add the 2018 Mac mini and the iPhone 6s, devices that will get more limited service and repairs now that they are considered vintage. The iPhone 6s initially launched in 2015, but Apple kept it around as a low-cost device until 2018, which is why it is only now being added to the vintage list. The iPhone 6s had Apple's A9 chip, and it was...

Top Rated Comments

wanha Avatar
31 months ago
Nokia, Samsung, and Microsoft - they all tried to break into the mobile OS game.

They all poured a TON of money to make it happen.

But they couldn't, because:

1. there was no market demand for a third OS (i.e. what could a third OS provide the other two can't?), and

2. app developers were not willing to support a third platform with a smaller user base.

This dynamic created what is effectively a duopoly that we see today.

It is natural and inevitable for governments to look into all duopolies, especially ones that impose their own policies and rules on all that use them.

I hope that governments reach sensible conclusions on this, but not holding my breath.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
31 months ago

Apple and Google should form a union. If a country wants to play with hard rules, then Apple and Google can collectively pull out of the country. Imagine a country left without iOS and Android in 2023. Let's see how fast their citizens overthrow their government.
Yeah let's replace governments with for-profit businesses, what could possibly go wrong
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tann Avatar
31 months ago
Doesn’t take much thinking to reach the conclusion there is a Duopoly!!
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
falkon-engine Avatar
31 months ago
There’ll always be multiple sides to this debate but the App Store is restrictive in many ways, including not allowing other web browser backends besides WebKit, the policies related to in app purchases for digital goods, not allowing alternative competitor app stores, not officially allowing side loading if the user so desires (users can side load to a limited degree if they have a developer account).

There are many potential legal apps or extended functionality that apple may not want in its App Store (e.g., Wi-Fi explorer or a better springboard/stage manager implementation, etc.) that are possibly innovative. And iPhones aren’t cheap, so in some ways apple may be stifling innovation, and in my humble opinion, users should be given more choice.

Of course there are those who say well If you want choice then get android. But governments can also respond and say to Apple if you’re too restrictive on choice and competition (and ultimately unfairly or unnecessarily restrict otherwise legal trade between consumers and corporations) then no license for you to operate in our country or state. I like my iPhone. I also like android. But I also wish iPhone/iPad was a bit less restrictive in where we can get our apps. Especially iPad, that literally has the same chip as a Mac… yet the mac can side load but the iPad cannot. Same hardware, completely different policies for loading software. Seems arbitrary and capricious to me.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
31 months ago

I didn't say let's replace governments with for-profit businesses.
You said Apple and Google should collude to force government's hand or for their citizens to elect governments that let Apple and Google do what they want.

It amounts to the same thing - more power and freedom for Apple and Google.

I'm not sure that's in the people's interest.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
senttoschool Avatar
31 months ago
Apple and Google should form a union. If a country wants to play with hard rules, then Apple and Google can collectively pull out of the country. Imagine a country left without iOS and Android in 2023. Let's see how fast their citizens overthrow their government.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)