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Apple ( AAPL ), Google hold 'effective duopoly' in mobile platforms

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Regulator plans targeted actions to address competition

concerns

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The U.S. tech giants push back, Google calling it

'unwarranted'

By Muvija M

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday told

Apple ( AAPL ) and Google to be fairer in how they distribute apps on

their mobile platforms, setting out possible interventions as it

plans to designate the U.S. tech companies with strategic market

status over their duopoly.

The country's competition regulator, which was given a wider

remit this year to take on Big Tech, laid out concerns relating

to inconsistent and unpredictable app review processes,

inconsistent app store search rankings, and up to 30% commission

on some in-app purchases.

Apple ( AAPL ) and Google's mobile platforms hold an "effective

duopoly", with around 90-100% of UK mobile devices running on

their mobile platforms, the Competition and Markets Authority

(CMA) said in a statement.

"Apple ( AAPL ) and Google's mobile platforms are both critical to

the UK economy ... but our investigation so far has identified

opportunities for more innovation and choice," CMA head Sarah

Cardell said.

She said the CMA's "targeted and proportionate" actions

would support British app developers - who contribute an

estimated 1.5% to the country's economy - to innovate.

Interventions could require the companies to make their app

store review and ranking processes fairer and more transparent,

including fair warnings of changes to the process or guidelines

and appropriate channels for businesses to raise concerns.

Apple ( AAPL ) and Google pushed back against the CMA's proposals,

with Google calling the step "disappointing and unwarranted."

"It is ... crucial that any new regulation is

evidence-based, proportionate and does not become a roadblock to

growth in the UK," Google's senior director for competition,

Oliver Bethell, said.

Apple ( AAPL ) said it was concerned that the new rules being

considered would undermine the privacy and security protections

expected by its users.

'MISSED OPPORTUNITY'

In contrast, "Fortnite" maker Epic Games, which stands to

benefit from a more open mobile ecosystem, said the regulator

had not gone far enough.

It said the CMA, which gained more global prominence as a

regulator following Brexit, had "deprioritised store competition

entirely" by pushing it to be considered in 2026, calling it a

"missed opportunity."

The company, which has launched its own marketplace app in

Europe, said it could not bring its app store to Apple's ( AAPL ) mobile

operating system (iOS) in Britain this year and said that

Fortnite's return to Apple's ( AAPL ) iOS was also uncertain.

The regulator is also under pressure from Britain's Labour

government, which has called on regulators to prioritise growth

in hopes of rejuvenating a stagnant economy to regain voter

confidence.

A final decision on both the designations will be made by

October 22, the CMA said. It also published roadmaps on

potential further action as part of these parallel

investigations.

A strategic market status designation allows the CMA to

impose interventions on a company, such as requiring it to

adhere to specific behaviour so as not to undermine fair

competition.

For Alphabet-owned Google, mobile platforms are the second

market where it has come in for closer scrutiny under the CMA's

new regime, following the watchdog's proposal last month to

designate Google in general search and search advertising.