Apple, Google face strategic market status tag in UK antitrust probe

Britain’s competition watchdog has intensified its scrutiny of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), proposing to label both as holding “strategic market status” (SMS) due to their dominant roles in mobile ecosystems.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation in January and now says the tech giants wield “substantial and entrenched market power” and a “position of strategic significance” regarding digital activity in the U.K.

The SMS designation would give the CMA legal authority to demand changes to practices that harm competition.

The probe examined whether Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) create barriers for rivals preventing them from offering rival products and services on the U.S. tech giants’ mobile platforms, favor their own apps and services, or impose unfair terms on developers seeking to distribute apps through the App Store or Google Play.

This comes as Apple and Google face escalating regulatory woes across Europe. In April, Apple was fined €500 million under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). A month earlier, Google was accused of breaching the DMA by favoring its own services and restricting app developers. Google is also contesting a separate €4.1 billion antitrust fine from 2018.

In the U.K., Google’s Android holds a 61% market share, while Apple’s iOS commands 38%, per Kantar data. Google operates the Play Store and Chrome browser, while Apple runs the App Store and Safari.