The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is also going to investigate Apple’s restrictions around cloud gaming for the iOS App Store.
Apple’s and Google’s dominance in the mobile browser space is prompting a UK regulator to launch an investigation into how it can stop the companies’ alleged “duopoly” over the market.
“Without interventions, both companies are likely to maintain, and even strengthen, their grip over the sector, further restricting competition and limiting incentives for innovators,” the UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) said on Friday. The regulator is launching the investigation after it completed a study on the mobile ecosystem. The study concluded that both Apple and Google “have a stranglehold” on the software available on the iOS and Android operating systems, which can make it difficult for rival companies to compete or stand out. For example, Apple requires all mobile browsers on iOS to use the company’s WebKit engine, the CMA noted.
“Many companies have raised frustrations with us,” the study added. “Tens of thousands of UK businesses such as app and web developers, which rely on these ecosystems to serve their customers, face restrictions and terms that they have little choice but to accept.
