UK competition regulator confirms probe into Apple and Google's mobile dominance - Engadget

Earlier this year, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was consulting connected a imaginable probe into Google and Apple's dominance successful the mobile telephone market. Now, the regulator has announced that it received "widespread support" for its proposals and has launched a marketplace probe into the 2 tech giant's "duopoly" successful unreality gaming and mobile browsers.  

"Many UK businesses and web developers archer america they consciousness that they are being held backmost by restrictions acceptable by Apple and Google," said the CMA's interim main executive, Sarah Cardell successful a statement. "We program to analyse whether the concerns we person heard are justified and, if so, place steps to amended contention and innovation successful these sectors."

The CMA noted that Apple and Google person a "stranglehold" implicit mobile instrumentality operating systems, app stores and browsers. It said 97 percent of UK web browsing successful 2021 happened connected either Apple oregon Google's browser engines, "so immoderate restrictions connected these engines tin person a large interaction connected users' experiences." It besides noted that unreality gaming services number 800,000 UK users, "but regularisation connected their organisation could hamper maturation successful this sector." 

Many responses to its earlier consultation came from browser vendors, web developers and unreality gaming services, the CMA said. Developers successful peculiar complained astir bugs and glitches successful web pages, giving them "no prime but to make bespoke mobile apps erstwhile a website mightiness beryllium sufficient." 

The UK authorization has been a thorn successful the broadside of exertion companies of late. It precocious forced Meta to merchantability Giphy aft the erstwhile mislaid an appeal, is investigating Google separately implicit contention successful ads, and is looking into Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition. "Market investigations tin effect successful changes to companies’ behaviour and restrictions, which amended contention and pb to greater prime for consumers and better-quality products," it said with respect to its latest probe.