The UK’s CMA closes its Competition Act cases against Apple, Google

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has closed its existing Competition Act cases into Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store as it plans for the roll out of the new digital markets competition regime.

While the CMA hasn’t taken any decisions on what digital activities or harms it will tackle first, the regulatory agency anticipates that its early work under the new digital markets competition regime will build on and leverage its experience in areas it has already studied, such as mobile ecosystems, which includes app stores.

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.

The CMA is a non-ministerial government department in the UK that’s responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-competitive activities. 

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