Inquiry group says the UK’s mobile browser market isn’t working well because of Apple, Google
Talk about too much government interference: the United Kingdom’s mobile browser market is “not working well for consumers and businesses” according to a final report from Britain’s competition watchdog, which says that Apple and Google are largely to blame, reports The Verge.
An independent inquiry group has concluded its mobile browsers investigation for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), identifying Apple’s policies around iOS, Safari, and WebKit as making it difficult for third-party web browser providers to compete and restricting the market as a result. Google’s Android mobile ecosystem is also complicit in impeding competition, but to a lesser degree says the report.
The final report recommends that, if Apple and/or Google are designated with strategic market status (SMS), then the CMA should consider imposing appropriate interventions. These include measures “which could enhance the ability of other browsers to compete by offering new, innovative features to consumers, as well as enabling users actively to choose their preferred mobile browser which could drive competition.”
Margot Daly, chair of the CMA’s independent inquiry group, has the following to say about the report: Following our in-depth investigation, we have concluded that competition between different mobile browsers is not working well, and this is holding back innovation in the UK.
The analysis set out in our report and the range of potential interventions considered to address the market issues we have identified merits consideration by the CMA under its new powers, which have been specifically designed for digital markets. So, I welcome the CMA’s prompt action to open strategic market status investigations into both Apple and Google’s mobile ecosystems. The extensive analysis we’ve set out today will help that work as it progresses.
We have not found concerns in relation to the cloud gaming sector following significant changes made by Apple over the course of our market investigation, which look to have positive implications for competition in this market.
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