LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Britain's antitrust

regulator said its inquiry group had found the mobile browser

market, dominated by Apple ( AAPL ) and Google, was not working well for

consumers and businesses, supporting its decision to launch an

investigation into the sector in January.

A final report by the Competition and Markets Authority

(CMA) independent inquiry group said most of its concerns

related to Apple's ( AAPL ) policies about accessing the

internet on its devices using its Safari browser.

Following provisional findings published in November, the

CMA opened an investigation under its new powers in January.

It will decide if either or both companies have "strategic

market status" in mobile ecosystems, a wider remit than the

browser market looked at by the inquiry group.

The group said if the companies were designated with SMS

status, the CMA should consider interventions such as enhancing

the ability of rivals to compete by offering new features.

Apple ( AAPL ) said it believed in "thriving and dynamic markets

where innovation can flourish", and its focus was always the

trust of its users.

"We have concerns with this report and believe the remedies

it discusses would undermine privacy, security, and the overall

user experience," a spokesperson said.

"We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA to

best address their concerns."

Apple's ( AAPL ) Safari and Google's Chrome browsers

dominate the market, it said, with Safari accounting for 88% of

browsers on Apple ( AAPL ) devices and Chrome accounting for 77% on

devices running Google's Android operating system in 2024.

Margot Daly, chair of the independent inquiry group, said

competition between different mobile browsers was not working

well and it was holding back innovation.

"I welcome the CMA's prompt action to open strategic market

status investigations into both Apple ( AAPL ) and Google's mobile

ecosystems," she said.

"The extensive analysis we've set out today will help that

work as it progresses."

The CMA said its SMS investigations were expected to

conclude later this year.