The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has begun a formal investigation into the domination of the mobile ecosystems by Apple and Google.

The British competition regulator announced on Thursday that it has “launched strategic market status (SMS) investigations in a second area of digital activity: mobile ecosystems.”

The regulator’s announcement comes a day after the UK government had replaced the CMA chairman Marcus Bokkerink with interim CMA Chair Doug Gurr – a former country manager of Amazon UK and President of Amazon China.

Apple/Google investigations

The CMA’s Marcus Bokkerink was effectively ousted by the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, as the Labour government seeks to focus on growth after Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed her unpopular budget last October that announced record tax increases for British citizens and businesses.

The sudden ousting of the CMA chair prompted warnings from antitrust lawyers of governmental interference in UK regulation, and a day after this took place, the CMA responded and announced formal investigations of Apple and Google.

It said that two investigations – one into Apple and another into Google – will assess in parallel these firms’ position in their respective ‘mobile ecosystems’ which include the operating systems, app stores and browsers that operate on mobile devices.

The CMA said the investigations will explore the impact on people who use mobile devices and the thousands of businesses developing innovative services or content such as apps for these devices.

The regulator noted that 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 to alternative products and services.

It said this means Apple and Google are also able to exert considerable influence over much of the content, services and technological development provided on a mobile device.

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 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.

Areas of concern

The CMA’s investigation will focus on Apple and Google’s domination of app stores, operating systems, and browsers, as well as:

The extent of competition between and within Apple’s and Google’s mobile ecosystems.
Possible leveraging of Apple’s and Google’s market power into other activities.
Potential exploitative conduct.

The CMA said it will take a proportionate and transparent approach to this investigation before reaching a decision by the end of October 2025.

“The operating systems, apps and browsers installed on our phones and tablet devices act as our gateway into the digital world – whether that is communicating with our friends and loved ones, buying from businesses or accessing creative content,” said Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA.

“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,” said Cardell. “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.”

Long time coming?

Matters have been building to a head for a while now.

The CMA in June 2021 had begun an investigation into the mobile ecosystem of both Apple and Google.

Just before that in March 2021, the CMA had opened its investigation into Apple’s distribution of apps on iOS and iPadOS devices in the UK.

But in August 2024 the CMA closed down that App Store investigation.

However, a CMA independent inquiry group was still examining the Apple, Google mobile ecosystem.

Last November the CMA’s independent inquiry group announced it had “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.”

This conclusion has now prompted a formal investigation.