UK antitrust authority closes investigation into Apple App Store; case to be re-examined under new digital rules

The UK's Competition and Market Authority (CMA) today announced that it has completed an investigation into Apple's App Store policies and expects to take the concerns into account as part of a new competition regime for digital markets that is expected to come into force later this year.

The CMA's investigation originally began in March 2021 and was designed to determine whether Apple has a dominant position in the distribution of apps on Apple devices in the UK – and, if so, whether Apple imposes unfair or anti-competitive terms on developers using the App Store, such as by charging a 30 percent commission on transactions.

The regulator launched a similar investigation into Google, which it said had breached UK competition law by forcing app developers to use its own billing system for in-app purchases. The CMA said it had closed the Competition Act proceedings against Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store on administrative priority grounds and had not yet made a decision on whether the Competition Act 1998 had been breached.

Although both investigations have been concluded, the competition authority says it can use the powers granted to it by the UK's new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act to address its concerns in a “more holistic” manner and boost competition in the app market. From the CMA press release:

In light of recent developments, in particular the passing of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) in May, the CMA has assessed its ongoing Competition Act investigation into Google's Play Store and its parallel proceedings into Apple's App Store rules against its administrative priorities and has decided to close those proceedings at this point. Should Apple or Google each or both be awarded 'strategic market status' in relation to digital activities in the mobile sector, the CMA will be able to use its new powers to consider the range of issues raised by the parties more holistically than would otherwise be possible in the context of those specific Competition Act investigations. This will also enable the CMA to consider what interventions, if any, may be required following an award.

The new document on the competition regime for digital markets, published in January 2024, gives the CMA the ability to set requirements for the conduct of companies in digital markets that have been granted strategic market status (SMS) – and to impose heavy fines on companies that violate these requirements.

In this document, the CMA also confirmed that it expects to launch around three to four SMS investigations in the first year after the new competition regime for digital markets comes into force, which is expected later this year.