The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has designated Apple and Google with “strategic market status” reflecting their dominant roles in the mobile platform ecosystem.
This designation empowers the CMA to impose targeted regulatory measures aimed at increasing competition and protecting consumers and businesses in the UK digital market.
Driving the news: The move builds on earlier investigations launched at the start of 2025 into Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS under new British digital market regulations designed to curb unfair practices by major tech companies.
- Apple and Google collectively control 90-100% of mobile devices in the UK, effectively creating a duopoly over how apps are distributed and monetized on mobile devices.
The big picture: The CMA identified multiple concerns, including:
- Unpredictable and opaque app review processes that complicate developers’ ability to plan and launch apps reliably.
- Inconsistent and non-transparent app store search rankings that could unfairly affect app visibility.
- High commissions on in-app purchases, reaching as much as 30%, increasing costs for developers and consumers.
Go deeper: The authority released separate “road maps” proposing measures for each company to enhance competition, such as:
- Making app review and ranking systems fairer and more transparent to give developers greater certainty.
- Allowing app developers to steer users towards payment channels outside of the app stores to reduce reliance on commission fees, akin to regulations recently enforced by the European Union.
Flashback: This is the second time Google has been designated a “strategic market status” company this month; earlier, the CMA applied this status concerning online search advertising, its first use of new enforcement powers.
