CMA Drops Apple, Google App Store Investigations

The UK’s antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has closed down its three year investigations into Apple and Google’s app stores.

The CMA announced on Wednesday that it was closing its “investigation into Google, and parallel Apple case, and instead expects to consider concerns under the new digital markets competition regime.”

The CMA also made clear that it had also consulted on proposed settlement commitments from Google, but said these failed to sufficiently allay its concerns.

App store probes

Both Apple and Google have faced criticism and scrutiny over the dominance of their respective App Store and Google Play store platforms. Critics allege both tech giants impose unfair charges on app developers and limit competition.

It was back in March 2021, when the CMA opened its investigation into Apple’s distribution of apps on iOS and iPadOS devices in the UK.

Then in June of 2021, the CMA confirmed it had begun an investigation into the mobile ecosystem of both Apple and Google.

The CMA began its investigation into Apple following complaints that its terms and conditions for app developers were unfair and anti-competitive.

The European Commission in June 2020 had also opened two formal antitrust investigations into Apple, over its App Store and Apple Pay.

In 2022 the CMA published a market study of mobile ecosystems in Britain, which found Apple and Google held an effective monopoly over the distribution of apps in the UK.

Investigations dropped

But in a statement on Wednesday, the CMA said it had dropped both probes, pending the roll-out of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA), which is expected to come into force later this year.

The CMA said it had opened these cases because it was 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 investigations were 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.

Meanwhile the CMA said it has rejected commitments submitted by Google in response to the CMA’s concerns. It said that after consulting app developers, and reviewing their feedback as well as the available evidence, the CMA “is not satisfied that Google’s proposed commitments address its competition concerns effectively.”

The CMA made clear the reason for dropping the probes at this time was the passing in May of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA).

“The CMA has assessed its existing Competition Act investigation into Google’s Play Store and its parallel case into Apple’s App Store rules against its administrative priorities and decided to close these cases at this point,” it stated. “Should Apple or Google each or both be designated as having ‘strategic market status’ in connection with any digital activities in the mobile sector, the CMA will be able to use its new powers to consider the range of issues raised by parties more holistically than it otherwise could under these specific Competition Act investigations.”

“Once the new pro-competition digital markets regime comes into force, we’ll be able to consider applying those new powers to concerns we have already identified through our existing work,” said Will Hayter, Executive Director for Digital Markets at the CMA.

“It’s critical that tech businesses in the UK, including app developers, can have access to a fair and competitive app ecosystem, helping to grow the sector, boost investment and result in better outcomes for UK consumers,” said Hayter. “These are all factors we are considering before launching our first investigations under the new regime.”