After Apple was severely attacked less than twenty-four hours ago for its methods of managing user privacy, today comes the news that the House of Cupertino, together with Google, would be at risk of a British antitrust investigationaimed at verifying the level of dominance of the two companies in the web browser sector.
There Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the United Kingdom, in fact, confirmed in the past few hours that a series of consultations that took place last June would have provided some “substantial evidence” for an investigation against Apple and Google regarding their alleged dominance of web browsers for mobile devices. Furthermore, in the case of Apple, the accusations would be even more serious, since the Bitten Apple would also be accused of restrict access to Cloud Gaming via its App Store.
Indeed, a survey carried out by the CMA on a sample of British companies active in the hi-tech sector revealed that the86% of respondents support an investigation towards the two multinationals and the ecosystems of iOS and Android, defined by the institution of antitrust English “a full-fledged duopoly“. According to the CMA, this presumed duopoly would allow the two companies to “tighten the throat” to the field of mobile browsers and cloud gaming on smartphones.
L’investigation should last at most 18 months, therefore the CMA is expected to reach a final decision by mid-2024 at the latest, according to English law. Over the next year and a half, theauthority it will have to collect information to prove its hypothesis and, possibly, require Apple and Google to implement systems to contrast the monopolistic practices that the investigation could highlight.
Meanwhile, the Bitten Apple explained that “we will continue to cooperate constructively with the authorities and with the Competition and Markets Authority to explain how our approach promotes competition and choice, whilst making sure consumers’ safety and privacy are always kept in check.”.
