The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Britain’s competition regulator, has published a list of sweeping proposals that could force Apple to fundamentally alter how it operates its App Store, Safari browser, and iOS ecosystem in the UK.
Background on the CMA vs Apple battle
This is an ongoing issue between Apple and the CMA. Britain’s competition regulator has been interfering in the tech giant’s business for years. In August 2024, it said it had closed its existing Competition Act cases into Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store as it planned for the roll out of the new digital markets competition regime.
The CMA says it opened these cases because it is concerned that Google and Apple are using their market positions via the Play Store and App Store, respectively, to set terms which may be unfair to UK app developers and which may restrict competition and consumer choice, potentially leading to higher prices and reduced choice for app users. The cases focused on the rules that require app developers offering digital content, such as games, to use Google Play’s or Apple’s own billing systems for in-app purchases, which the CMA is concerned limit developers’ choice of payment solution and make it more difficult for them to deal directly with their customers.
Here are the highlights of the proposals report:
° Almost all adults in the UK currently have access to a mobile device1 and almost all of these devices have a Mobile Platform provided by Apple or Google. Mobile devices with Apple’s Mobile Platform have a [50-60%] share of supply, and those with Google’s Mobile Platform, which also include devices made by Samsung and Motorola, have a [40-50%] share. Consumers use the mobile platform on their devices to access, view and engage with digital content and services – for example browse the internet, engage and communicate with friends on social networks, watch videos and play games.
° Apple’s Mobile Platform is therefore vital for hundreds of thousands of UK businesses distributing digital content and services to consumers on mobile devices. The UK has a vibrant app developer community, representing Europe’s largest app economy by revenue and app developer count. In total, the UK app economy generates an estimated 1.5% of the UK’s GDP while supporting c.400,000 jobs across direct, indirect and other supporting functions. It is therefore essential that this part of the digital economy works well, creating opportunities for all market participants, large and small, to invest, innovate and grow. And when this market works well in the UK, it creates more opportunities for UK app developers to compete globally.
More broadly, many UK businesses today use a native app as a key part of their digital offering – from transport to takeaways, retail, finance and fitness – these businesses range from large corporates to small start-ups across many different sectors of the economy. Some businesses distributing digital content
and services may rely solely on native apps as their main channel to reach customers, without a website or physical store. This includes in key growth areas of the economy like gaming and FinTech, for example:
° It is therefore essential for a wide range of UK businesses, and their customers, that competition works well in relation to Apple’s Mobile Platform. And where this is the case, this will be expected to deliver positive growth, investment and innovation opportunities for the UK economy as well as significant benefits to consumers, including in the form of cheaper, higher quality and/or innovative products and services.
° The main focus of our (the CMA) early priority interventions is on app distribution. App developers looking to distribute their apps on iOS and iPadOS must distribute through Apple’s app store, which means that Apple’s App Store holds a monopoly over app distribution on Apple devices. Our starting point is to look at Apple’s App Store terms and conditions, and the way these are operated. It is important that UK app developers are treated fairly and have sufficient certainty that they will continue to be able to serve their customers effectively. This will give them and others the confidence to invest and grow, without the risk of subsequent, potentially business-ending, changes by Apple. To that end, we expect that our immediate focus will be on a package of interventions to provide UK app developers with this increased certainty by requiring that Apple takes action in relation to app reviews, ranking of apps, and data collection as part of an app review.
° Our (the CMA) second key priority area of focus is on interoperability and ensuring app developers have interoperable access to key functionality within iOS and iPadOS. Without the ability to access these enabling functions, UK app developers cannot create the full range of innovative products and services that they would do otherwise, and UK consumers miss out as a result.
° We (the CMA) will then focus on enabling interoperable access for specific use cases where we consider app developers having access to particular functionality is likely to be particularly important in enabling innovation Key use cases include digital wallets (such as Apple Wallet) and device connectivity (where device manufacturers are dependent on being able to connect to, and interact with, Apple’s mobile devices, with any restrictions having the potential to extend the boundaries of Apple’s ecosystem into a wider range of products.)
° We (the CMA) will also consider the controls around browser engines. The functionality available on a browser is developing rapidly with the advent of AI, with new releases seeking to integrate contextual queries (eg summarizing text on a webpage) and even completing specific tasks online on your behalf. We want to ensure that alternative browser providers can build such
innovative propositions on Apple’s mobile devices,
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