UK to investigate Apple and Google's mobile ecosystems

Apple iPhone 16 smartphones displayed at a store in London on October 2024.
Apple iPhone 16 smartphones displayed at a store in London on October 2024.
Image: REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Britain launched an investigation into Apple and Google's smartphone operating systems, app stores and browsers on Thursday, its second use of recently bulked up regulatory powers to scrutinise big tech companies.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it would assess whether Apple and Google had “strategic market status” in mobile ecosystems, and the impact they had on users and on businesses developing content and services.

CMA CEO Sarah Cardell said more competitive mobile ecosystems could foster new innovation and new opportunities across a range of services that millions of people use, be they app stores, browsers or operating systems.

“Better competition could also boost growth here in the UK,” she said.

Nearly all smartphones sold in Britain run either Apple's iOS or Google's Android operating systems, and their respective apps stores and browsers have either exclusive or leading positions on their platforms.

They could therefore exert considerable influence over content, services and technological developments, the CMA said.

Apple said it believed in “thriving and dynamic markets where innovation can flourish”, and its ecosystem supported hundreds of thousands of jobs in Britain.

“We face competition in every segment and jurisdiction where we operate, and our focus is always the trust of our users,” the company said in a statement.

Google's senior director for competition Oliver Bethell said Android's openness has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratise access to smartphones and apps.

“It's the only example of a successful and viable open source mobile operating system,” he said.

The British regulator said it would look at the extent of competition between the two companies, whether they were using their dominance to favour their own apps and services and whether they were forcing developers to sign up to unfair terms.

It is the second investigation by the CMA using its new powers to scrutinise big tech. Its first, announced earlier this month, was targeted at Google's search services.

The deadline for the investigation is October 22 2025.


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