The Competition and Markets Authority’s independent inquiry group has carried out an in-depth assessment of the mobile browser markets and has provisionally concluded that they are not working well for UK businesses and millions of phone users. Most of the concerns that the group has identified relate to Apple’s policies that determine how mobile browsers work on Apple’s devices.
The CMA opened its investigation following its Mobile Ecosystems Market Study in 2021, which found that Apple and Google have an effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems, including operating systems, app stores and web browsers on mobile devices. This puts Apple and Google in a position to set the rules on how mobile browsers can work on iOS and Android devices respectively.
The group has provisionally found that Apple’s rules restrict other competitors from being able to deliver new, innovative features that could benefit consumers. Other browser providers have stressed that they have been unable to offer a full range of browser features, such as faster webpage loading on iPhone. Many smaller UK app developers also told us that they would like to use progressive web apps – an alternative way for businesses to provide apps to mobile users without downloading apps through an app store – but this technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices. In addition, the group has provisionally found that a revenue-sharing agreement between Google and Apple significantly reduces their financial incentives to compete in mobile browsers on iOS.
Other issues considered in the report include the way that users are presented with choices about which browser they use. The Group has provisionally found that Apple and Google can manipulate these choices to make their own browsers the clearest or easiest option.
The investigation has also looked at mobile cloud gaming, with around 175,000 gamers in the UK choosing cloud services that stream games directly to their phone. The group investigated concerns about how cloud gaming apps are distributed through app stores, with the primary concern being that Apple did not allow cloud gaming apps to be available on the App Store at all. During the investigation, Apple has made changes which allow cloud gaming apps to be sold via the App Store and the CMA has seen some evidence of such apps emerging. Given that the primary underlying concern has fallen away, the group has provisionally concluded there is no need for intervention by the CMA in mobile cloud gaming.
The group has provisionally decided that an effective and comprehensive means of addressing its provisional findings is to recommend that the CMA board prioritises investigating Apple’s and Google’s activities in mobile ecosystems under new digital markets competition rules coming into force next year. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act will give the CMA the ability to designate firms as having Strategic Market Status (SMS) in relation to a digital activity and impose appropriate interventions. To designate a firm as having SMS, the CMA must undertake a formal investigation.
If such SMS investigations result in designations and appropriate interventions, the CMA says that the recommended course of action would improve competitive conditions in these markets, allowing a wider range of companies to invest, innovate and grow, giving millions of consumers access to mobile browsers which may be faster and more secure for use in their everyday lives.
The CMA asks for comments on its provisional findings by 13 December 2024 and expects to make a final decision in March 2025.
