The UK's CMA plans a market investigation into Apple's cloud gaming restrictions via its App Store alongside Apple and Google's market power in mobile browsers

GOV.UK 2022-06-12

Context & Ripple Effects

The CMA had already signaled a broader review of whether Apple and Google’s mobile-ecosystem power harms users in its earlier mobile-ecosystem inquiry plan. This proposed investigation narrows that concern to two points of access on mobile devices: browser defaults and Apple’s App Store rules for cloud gaming.

Related coverage records the proposal becoming a launched investigation into mobile browsers and cloud gaming, turning a policy concern about platform control into a formal competition process involving both Apple and Google.

First-order effects

Apple faces CMA scrutiny over App Store conditions affecting cloud-gaming services, while Apple and Google face examination of their position in mobile browsers.
Cloud-gaming providers and browser rivals gain a regulatory forum for complaints tied to the two companies’ mobile distribution and access rules.

Second-order effects

Apple and Google must defend how their mobile platform policies affect browser and cloud-gaming competition, putting those policies under greater pressure than a general ecosystem review alone.
The linked treatment of browsers and cloud gaming makes mobile-device access rules—not only individual apps—the focal point for competitors seeking changes from the CMA.

Third-order effects

If the CMA’s investigation establishes that platform rules constrain competition in these services, UK oversight will increasingly treat operating-system, browser and app-store governance as market-access infrastructure.
The case is part of a broader shift from examining dominant mobile ecosystems in the abstract to testing their control at specific service entry points.

The trend: Competition scrutiny is moving from broad concerns about mobile ecosystems toward the concrete rules that determine whether services can reach users on dominant platforms.

Discussion

@cmagovuk @cmagovuk on x
We're consulting on launching a market investigation into #Apple and #Google's power over: 📱 mobile browsers and ☁️ cloud gaming on mobile devices We're also taking action against Google in relation to its app store payment practices 💳 #Digital #Smartphones https://twitter.com/..…
@openwebadvocacy @openwebadvocacy on x
🇬🇧 Big News! The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) has decided to open a Market Investigation into Mobile Browsers and Cloud Gaming and has published their final report. This is a MAJOR step towards the end of the #AppleBrowserBan. https://www.gov.uk/...
@ricmac Richard MacManus on x
Final report from @CMAgovUK: https://www.gov.uk/... I'm not sure what the UK govt can actually do here (and this is relevant to me, as I live in UK now), but I was pleased to read that security *isn't* a valid excuse for Apple to refuse other browser engines onto iOS. https://twi…
@brucel Bruce Lawson on x
@zsk Hi Zoe, I'm one of the people who organised https://open-web-advocacy.org/ and briefed CMA (and Australian, EU, US and Japanese regulators) about this. Happy to chat if you want.
@brucel Bruce Lawson on x
Apple and Google have too much power over phones and action is needed, UK watchdog says https://www.independent.co.uk/ ... “Apple...bans alternatives to its own browsing engine on its phones, making it much harder for other apps to distinguish themselves from the in-built Safari …
@fjeronimo Francisco Jeronimo on x
Based on @IDC data for a @CMAgovUK report on mobile ecosystems, @Android sales in the UK lean towards lower price points, while @Apple iOS sales are predominantly in the higher price points. This is the smartphone sales distribution in the UK by price point👇 https://twitter.com/.…
@egs_enthusiast @egs_enthusiast on x
@tomwarren @TimSweeneyEpic Opinions and thoughts? Could this also pave way to fix Apple's App store & IAP policies?
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
@egs_enthusiast @tomwarren Apple strategy is to ignore the law until they are absolutely forced by courts or regulators to change their practices, and to deploy a massive team of lawyers and lobbyists to delay that reckoning for as long as possible.
@appfairness @appfairness on x
The @CMAgovUK's report concludes that @Apple and @Google's ‘tight grip’ on app stores means that consumers are more likely to miss out on new innovations, have less choice, and face higher prices. More, here: https://appfairness.org/... #OpenTheAppStores
@geradinlaw @geradinlaw on x
Excellent blog post by my colleague Tom Smith regarding the @CMAgovUK's market investigations references into browsers and cloud computing. Huge developments. Good for consumers and innovation. https://theplatformlaw.blog/ ...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Apple banning cloud gaming apps like XBox Game Pass (for the spurious reason they can't review every game) and requiring every browser must use WebKit on iOS have both been declared anticompetitive by the UK's competition authority. The monopoly👑is $AAPL https://9to5mac.com/...
@firt Maximiliano Firtman on x
The restriction that iOS browser apps must use Apple's own WebKit browser engine, has been declared to be anticompetitive by the UK competition watchdog. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
I'm impressed with the CMA's market studies and extensive detail in its 356 page report. Here's hoping that regulators will eventually force Apple to open up its App Store and lift iOS browser restrictions.
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
UK regulator (CMA) is launching an investigation into Apple and Google's power over cloud gaming and mobile browsers. The CMA successfully forced Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony to remove their auto-renewal of subscriptions recently https://www.gov.uk/... https://twitter.com/...
@slightlylate Alex Russell on x
The CMA has led and others are following (EU, Japan, US). There's hope yet that Apple, Google, and Facebook's efforts to snuff out the mobile web will fail. For background (from last year): https://infrequently.org/... https://twitter.com/...
@slightlylate Alex Russell on x
Imagine: an iPhone that charges without dongles *and* has a decent browser. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@starfire2258 Sean Hollister on x
We've written extensively about how Apple has invented new self-serving App Store rules just to block cloud gaming (see thread above). Now the UK might do something about it: https://twitter.com/...
@conor_durham Conor Durham on x
Significant stuff coming from CMA after market study of mobile ecosystems found evidence of “Apple & Google's stranglehold on the market” leading to “supra-competitive returns”. Apple seems bigger concern but Google still found to wield strong power re rule setting & market power…
@markdistef Mark Di Stefano on x
Breaking: UK antitrust regulator the CMA says its found Apple and Google run “an effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems” and now will consult on how it can use its powers to intervene in the market.
@samuelstolton Samuel Stolton on x
Busy day for the UK's competition watchdog @CMAgovUK - opens a fresh probe into Google's Play Store, announces a market investigation into mobile browsers & cloud gaming, & accuses Apple & Google of exercising a “stranglehold” over mobile ecosystems. https://www.gov.uk/...
@leoringer Leo Ringer on x
The CMA is also launching a separate competition law investigation into Google's restrictions on in-app payments via the Play Store, mirroring the investigation into the Apple App Store launched over a year ago.
@ryan_browne_ Ryan Browne on x
The UK's CMA is launching a market investigation into Apple and Google over their “effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems.” https://www.gov.uk/... Part of the probe will look at how Apple has made it difficult for cloud gaming services to get past its strict App Store rules. 🎮
@_iainmartin Iain Martin on x
The Competition and Markets Authority is now one of the most active antitrust regulators in the world and is clearly striking out on its own path from the EU/FTC ono Big Tech — see the ongoing wrangles with Meta over Giphy
@privacymatters @privacymatters on x
1/ The @CMAgovUK has published its final report into the ‘Mobile ecosystems market study’ https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u k/ ... The report proposes a number of interventions and a market investigation reference wrt mobile browsers and cloud gaming (see Section 9 page 339…
@cmagovuk @cmagovuk on x
...we've continued to look at where we can take immediate action in the sector while we await new #digital powers.✔️ Find out more: https://www.gov.uk/... #Apple #Google #Tech
@leoringer Leo Ringer on x
Big news for Google and Apple today - the UK competition regulator, the CMA, is launching a market investigation into their “duopoly” on mobile ecosystems. These investigations can lead to serious action including structural separation. https://www.gov.uk/...
@_iainmartin Iain Martin on x
“Apple and Google “hold all the cards” with interventions needed to give innovators and competitors a fair chance to compete in mobile ecosystems” https://www.gov.uk/... The U.K's antitrust watchdog putting down a big marker here on Big Tech
@jcbcp Jacob Parry on x
.@CMAgovUK will launch a market investigation into mobile browsers and cloud gaming. Apple and Google “hold all the cards” and intervention likely necessary, says agency head https://www.gov.uk/...

Chronicles