The UK competition watchdog launched an in-depth investigation on November 22 into Apple and Google’s dominance in the market for “cloud gaming” and internet browsers on mobile devices.
The two Californian giants “have an effective duopoly over mobile ecosystems, which allows them to have control over operating systems, app stores and web browsers on mobile devices,” said the competition authority (CMA).
Thus, 97% of all mobile internet browsing in the UK was done in browsers using Apple or Google technology in 2021, the CMA said in a statement. The regulator will now carry out “an in-depth investigation into how Apple and Google dominate the mobile browser market and how Apple restricts gaming” on its application portal.
The UK has “more than 800,000 users of cloud gaming services” and “mobile distribution restrictions could slow the growth of this sector” and penalize gamers, according to the competition police. The stakes are high: the CMA puts the weight of the sector in the British economy at “several billions of pounds”.
“Necessary Restrictions”
At the same time, “Apple and Google have argued that the restrictions were necessary to protect users,” according to the British authority, which specifies that its investigation “will take these concerns into account and determine whether new rules are necessary.”
“We’ve helped millions of developers turn their brightest ideas into apps,” in a sector that generates “hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK alone,” Apple said in a statement to AFP on Tuesday. Google responded by saying that it is “committed to building thriving, open platforms that empower consumers and help developers build successful businesses.”
Its Android platform “provides users with more app choices and app stores than any other mobile platform,” the group said. The CMA is conducting various investigations and proceedings to try to limit the ascendancy of Gafa (Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon) in the online technology market.
The European Commission and the US Competition Authority (FTC) and many US states have also launched investigations and prosecutions against Gafa.
Source: BFM TV
