The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched strategic market status (SMS) investigations in a second area of digital activity: mobile ecosystems.
Two investigations into Apple and Google respectively will assess in parallel their position in their respective “mobile ecosystems” which include the operating systems, app stores and browsers that operate on mobile devices. The investigations will explore the impact on people who use mobile devices and the businesses developing services or content such as apps for these devices.
Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets play a fundamental role in the lives of people in the UK. According to the CMA, almost all (94%) of 16+ year olds in the UK – around 56 million UK consumers – currently have access to a smartphone and the average UK user spends around three hours a day using a mobile device
Almost 15,000 businesses are involved in developing apps used on mobile devices in the UK, and the total UK revenue for app development is estimated to be around £28 billion.
Virtually all mobile devices sold in the UK are pre-installed with either iOS (Apple) or Android (Google) and Apple’s and Google’s own app stores and browsers have either exclusive or leading positions on their platforms compared with alternative products and services. This means that Apple and Google are also able to exert considerable influence over much of the content, services and technological development provided on a mobile device.
Given the importance of mobile ecosystems to people, businesses and the economy, the CMA says it is critical that competition works well.
Under the digital markets competition regime, the CMA may designate firms with SMS in relation to a particular digital activity. Once designated, the CMA can impose conduct requirements or propose pro-competition interventions to achieve positive outcomes for UK consumers and businesses.
The investigations will assess Apple’s and Google’s position in relation to their mobile operating systems, app stores and browsers (together referred to as ecosystems) and whether either firm has SMS in these areas. At the same time the CMA will also consider whether conduct requirements should be imposed in the event of a final designation decision.
The issues that will form part of the CMA’s investigations include:
- The extent of competition between and within Apple’s and Google’s mobile ecosystems. The CMA will assess how competition is working across Apple’s and Google’s mobile ecosystems and what barriers may be preventing other competitors from offering rival products and services on Apple’s and Google’s platforms.
- Possible leveraging of Apple’s and Google’s market power into other activities. This will include investigating whether Apple or Google are using their position in operating systems, app distribution or browsers to favour their own apps and services, which often come pre-installed and prominently placed on iOS and Android devices.
- Potential exploitative conduct. This will include investigating whether Apple or Google are requiring app developers to sign up to unfair terms and conditions as a condition of distributing their apps on Apple’s and Google’s app stores; and whether users may be presented with “choice architecture” which makes it difficult to make active choices about which apps they are using on mobile devices.
- Potential conduct requirements could include, for example, requiring Apple or Google to open up access to key functionality needed by other apps to operate on mobile devices; or making it possible for users to download apps and pay for in-app content more easily outside of Apple’s and Google’s own app stores.
These investigations are separate to the CMA’s ongoing market Investigation into Mobile Browsers and Cloud Gaming. In its provisional report, the inquiry group leading that market investigation recommended that the CMA launch an SMS investigation after provisional findings suggested that Apple’s and Google’s business practices are holding back competition in the mobile browsers market.
The statutory deadline for the SMS investigations is 22 October 2025. The CMA seeks comments by 12 February 2025.
