09:45 AM EDT, 10/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Apple ( AAPL ) and Alphabet's Google ( GOOG ) received strategic market status designation for each of their mobile platforms by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, the regulator said Wednesday.

The designation covers operating systems, app distribution, browsers, and browser engines on smartphones and tablets.

The regulator said it launched separate investigations in January and proposed the designations in July.

After receiving input from more than 150 stakeholders, the Competition and Markets Authority said the two companies both have "substantial, entrenched market power and a position of strategic significance in their respective mobile platforms."

The designation does not imply any wrongdoing and will not lead to immediate requirements, but allows the CMA to consider "proportionate, targeted interventions" to maintain competition in mobile platforms, the regulator said.

Following the regulator's designation, Google Senior Competition Director Oliver Bethell called the decision "disappointing, disproportionate and unwarranted."

Bethell said, "The UK's new digital markets regime was introduced with the promise of being pro-growth and pro-innovation, with the CMA emphasizing that its work would be highly targeted and proportionate. In this context, we simply do not see the rationale for today's designation decision."

He added that the decision creates new and uncertain rules for Google's ( GOOG ) mobile business in the UK.

"The CMA's next steps will be crucial if the UK's digital markets regime is to meet its promise of being pro-growth and pro-innovation," Bethell said.

Apple ( AAPL ) did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.

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