UK steps up scrutiny of Apple and Google over mobile platforms

By Muvija M

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain on Wednesday told Apple and Google to be fairer in how they distribute apps on their mobile platforms, setting out possible interventions as it plans to designate the U.S. tech companies with strategic market status over their duopoly.

The country's competition regulator, which was given a wider remit this year to take on Big Tech, laid out concerns relating to inconsistent and unpredictable app review processes, inconsistent app store search rankings, and up to 30% commission on some in-app purchases.

Apple and Google's mobile platforms hold an "effective duopoly", with around 90-100% of UK mobile devices running on their mobile platforms, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement.

"Apple and Google’s mobile platforms are both critical to the UK economy ... but our investigation so far has identified opportunities for more innovation and choice," CMA head Sarah Cardell said.

She said the CMA's "targeted and proportionate" actions would support British app developers - who contribute an estimated 1.5% to the country's economy - to innovate.

Interventions could require the companies to make their app store review and ranking processes fairer and more transparent, including fair warnings of changes to the process or guidelines and appropriate channels for businesses to raise concerns.

Apple and Google pushed back against the CMA's proposals, with Google calling the step "disappointing and unwarranted."

"It is ... crucial that any new regulation is evidence-based, proportionate and does not become a roadblock to growth in the UK," Google's senior director for competition, Oliver Bethell, said.

Apple said it was concerned that the new rules being considered would undermine the privacy and security protections expected by its users.

'MISSED OPPORTUNITY'

In contrast, "Fortnite" maker Epic Games, which stands to benefit from a more open mobile ecosystem, said the regulator had not gone far enough.

It said the CMA, which gained more global prominence as a regulator following Brexit, had "deprioritised store competition entirely" by pushing it to be considered in 2026, calling it a "missed opportunity."

The company, which has launched its own marketplace app in Europe, said it could not bring its app store to Apple's mobile operating system (iOS) in Britain this year and said that Fortnite's return to Apple's iOS was also uncertain.

The regulator is also under pressure from Britain's Labour government, which has called on regulators to prioritise growth in hopes of rejuvenating a stagnant economy to regain voter confidence.

A final decision on both the designations will be made by October 22, the CMA said. It also published roadmaps on potential further action as part of these parallel investigations.

A strategic market status designation allows the CMA to impose interventions on a company, such as requiring it to adhere to specific behaviour so as not to undermine fair competition.

For Alphabet-owned Google, mobile platforms are the second market where it has come in for closer scrutiny under the CMA's new regime, following the watchdog's proposal last month to designate Google in general search and search advertising.

(Reporting by Muvija M and Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar, William James and Jane Merriman)