The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released its final report on mobile browsers and cloud gaming, concluding that competition among mobile browsers is inadequate, hindering innovation in the UK. CMA Chair Margot Daly stated that investigations into designating Apple and Google with strategic market status (SMS) are ongoing, expected to conclude later this year. If designated, the CMA may impose interventions to enhance browser competition. The findings particularly target Apple for restricting browser engines on iOS, while no further action is deemed necessary for cloud gaming. The investigation began in 2021 and took nearly four years to complete.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released its final report regarding its investigation into mobile browsers and cloud gaming. The report states that “competition between different mobile browsers is not functioning effectively, which is stifling innovation in the UK,” according to Margot Daly, Chair of the CMA’s independent inquiry group.
The next phase is already in progress – the CMA initiated investigations in January to determine whether Apple and Google should be classified as having strategic market status (SMS) under the UK’s new digital markets competition framework. The SMS investigations are anticipated to conclude “later this year.” Under the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act, which took effect in January, the CMA has the authority to impose legally binding conduct requirements or pro-competitive measures on companies designated as having SMS, if deemed necessary.
Should Apple and/or Google be designated as having SMS, the CMA “should consider implementing appropriate interventions,” the report states, including “measures that could improve the capacity of other browsers to compete by introducing new, innovative features for consumers and allowing users to actively select their preferred mobile browser.”
This issue predominantly concerns Apple rather than Google, as the company does not permit any browser engine other than WebKit, which powers Safari, for its competing mobile browsers. The scenario is markedly different on Android. Interestingly, the CMA found that no additional action is required regarding cloud gaming, the other facet of the investigation.
The CMA’s investigation, which culminated in today’s report, was initiated in 2021, and it strangely took nearly four years to reach these rather clear conclusions.
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