British Competition Regulator Investigates Apple and Google’s Mobile Phone Ecosystems
The Competition and Markets Authority is seeking to establish whether the iOS and Android operating systems have ’strategic market status’ using new powers.
The UK launched an investigation into Apple and Google’s smartphone operating systems, app stores, and browsers on Thursday.
According to the CMA website, for any business to be liable to be designated as having “strategic market status” it must be found to have a “substantial and entrenched market power in a digital activity linked to the United Kingdom.”
The business must also have “a position of strategic significance” and a “global turnover of more than £25 billion or UK turnover of more than £1 billion.”
Under new rules that came into force at the beginning of 2025, firms designated with the status can have conduct requirements placed on them that boost competition and consumer choice.
The CMA said it could, for example, require that either company open up access to functionality within its operating systems or app stores to third-party apps.
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Virtually every smartphone sold in Britain runs on either Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android operating systems, and their respective app stores and browsers have either exclusive or top positions on those platforms.
They could therefore exert considerable influence over content, services, and technological developments in the UK, the CMA said.
The CMA said its twin investigations would examine the level of competition between and within the two companies’ mobile ecosystems and the possible leveraging of Apple and Google’s market dominance into other activities.
The probe will also investigate whether they were using their dominance to favor their own apps and services and whether they were forcing developers to sign up to unfair terms.
“More competitive mobile ecosystems could foster new innovations and new opportunities across a range of services that millions of people use, be they app stores, browsers or operating systems,” CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said.
“Better competition could also boost growth here in the UK, with businesses able to offer new and innovative types of products and services on Apple’s and Google’s platforms.”
Apple said in a statement that it “believes in thriving and dynamic markets where innovation can flourish,” adding that the company faces “competition in every segment and jurisdiction where we operate.”
“In the UK alone, the iOS app economy supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and makes it possible for developers big and small to reach users on a trusted platform,” the statement continued, adding that they would continue to cooperate with the CMA.
Google’s senior director for competition Oliver Bethell said the Android operating system’s openness has helped expand choice, reduce prices, and democratize access to smartphones and apps, saying that it is “the only example of a successful and viable open source mobile operating system.”
The deadline for the investigation is Oct. 22, 2025.
It is the second investigation by the CMA using its new powers to look into Big Tech. Its first, announced earlier this month, was targeted at Google’s search services.
The investigations in the UK come on the heels of a series of investigations launched by the EU into American tech firms.
Reuters and PA Media contributed to this report.
