Good news, bad news: Apple e-books investigation closed; browser inquiry coming

A little from column A. A little from column B.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) received a mixed dose of legal news on Friday when the European Commission said it was closing its antitrust investigation into the company’s e-books business, while the U.K.’s antitrust agency said it would likely investigate its duopoly in the smartphone market.

Shares of the Tim Cook-led tech giant were fractionally higher in early trading.

E-books

The European Commission is ending the probe into Apple’s e-books venture, as the complainant dropped its complaint and no conclusion was reached.

“The closure of an investigation is not a finding that the conduct in question complies with EU competition rules,” the European Commission said in a statement. “The Commission will continue to monitor business practices in the European tech sector, including those of Apple, both under the [Digital Markets Act] and competition rules.”

Mobile ecosystem inquiry

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority said on Friday that Apple and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) were likely to be investigated over their dominance in the mobile ecosystem — notably their respective smartphone browsers — as the duo could potentially cause users to choose their apps over those of competitors.

“Through our investigation, we have provisionally found that competition between different mobile browsers is not working well and this is holding back innovation in the UK,” Margot Daly, chair of the CMA’s independent inquiry group, said in a statement.

Apple’s Safari is the default browser on iOS devices, while Chrome is the default browser on Android devices.

Concerns include other browsers not being able to offer a full range of features, including faster webpage loading on iPhones and the inability to use progressive web apps, which would let users use an app without having to download from the App Store.

“In addition, the group has provisionally found that a revenue-sharing agreement between Google and Apple significantly reduces their financial incentives to compete in mobile browsers on iOS,” the CMA said.

Aside from the browser issue, the CMA also looked into the mobile cloud gaming market. However, Apple’s recent changes to allow cloud gaming apps to be sold via the App Store led to the conclusion there is no need for intervention.

“Apple believes in thriving and dynamic markets where innovation can flourish,” an Apple spokesperson told Seeking Alpha via email. “We face competition in every segment and jurisdiction where we operate, and our focus is always the trust of our users. We disagree with the findings in the report regarding Safari, WebKit, and in-app browsing on iOS. We are concerned that the interventions discussed in the report for future consideration under the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act would undermine user privacy and security and hinder our ability to make the kind of technology that sets Apple apart. We will continue to engage constructively with the CMA as their work on this matter progresses.”

Google has not yet responded to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.

(This story has been updated to include Apple’s response.)