CMA targets Apple and Google UK mobile market dominance

THE UK's competition watchdog has unveiled a comprehensive overhaul of the mobile app economy, with proposals to designate Apple and Google as possessing “strategic market status” (SMS) - a development that could pave the way for new competitors, reduce development expenses, and generally weaken the tech giants’ stranglehold on the mobile ecosystem.

- SASKIA COOPMAN

In a pair of roadmaps released on Wednesday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) outlined potential interventions designed to rebalance the UK’s £33bn app economy.

The proposals would address everything from app store charges and review procedures to limitations on digital wallets.

The announcement arrives as regulators worldwide intensify pressure on Big Tech, with the CMA cautioning that the UK must move swiftly or risk lagging behind international counterparts in addressing market concentration.