UK competition cops brand Apple, Google with 'strategic market status' for mobile

Designation hands CMA broad oversight of their app stores and platforms

The UK's competition watchdog has officially slapped Apple and Google with "strategic market status," a new legal label that gives the regulator far-reaching powers to rein in how the tech giants run their empires.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has declared both mobile tech giants meet the legal threshold for "strategic market status" (SMS) under the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, giving it sweeping oversight of their mobile platform businesses.

The CMA launched separate investigations into Apple and Google's mobile platforms in January. In July, it published proposed decisions that they should be designated with SMS.

During its investigations, the CMA heard from more than 150 stakeholders, and said it had constructive engagement with Apple and Google.

The market watchdog concluded Apple and Google both have "substantial, entrenched market power and a position of strategic significance" in their respective mobile markets, justifying the SMS designation.

The CMA found UK smartphone owners use either Apple or Google's mobile platform and are unlikely to switch between them. The main way users access content on their devices in the form of apps is through their mobile platform account.

"To reach both Apple and Android users, businesses must develop and distribute their content through both Apple and Google's mobile platforms," the CMA said.

Although the regulator is not accusing either company of wrongdoing, the designation means it formally recognizes that Google and Apple hold "substantial and entrenched market power" and occupy positions of strategic significance in the digital economy.

However, the status allows the CMA to impose "proportionate, targeted interventions to ensure that mobile platforms are open to effective competition, and that consumers and businesses that rely on Google and Apple can have confidence that they are treated fairly," it said.

In a statement, Google said the decision is disappointing, disproportionate, and unwarranted:

We simply do not see the rationale for today's designation decision. Android and Chrome were built on the idea of creating more choice, not less. Anyone, including our competitors, can customize and build devices with the open source Android operating system – for free. And while Google Play helps people download apps on their devices, if you don't find the app you're looking for, you can download apps from a rival store or directly from a developer's website – something the majority of Android users actually do, and something other mobile platforms restrict.

Apple has been offered the opportunity to comment.

Earlier this month, the CMA designated Google as having SMS in the web search market and associated products such as Top Stories, Discover, and News tabs, as well as newer AI features like Overviews and AI Mode.

Google said many of the CMA's proposed interventions would inhibit UK innovation and growth. ®