Apple and Google may be forced to change app stores in UK

Apple and Google may be forced to change app stores in UK 38 minutes ago Share Save Imran Rahman-Jones Technology reporter Share Save PA Media The way we download apps onto our phones could be about to change after a ruling from the UK's competition regulator. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has designated Apple and Google as having "strategic market status" - effectively saying they have a lot of power over mobile platforms. This means the two tech giants may have to make changes, after the CMA said they "may be limiting innovation and competition". The ruling has drawn fury from the tech giants, with Apple saying it risked harming consumers through "weaker privacy" and "delayed access to new features", while Google called the decision "disappointing, disproportionate and unwarranted". "We simply do not see the rationale for today's designation decision," Google competition lead Oliver Bethell said. But the CMA said it did not "find or assume wrongdoing" from the firms. "The app economy generates 1.5% of the UK's GDP and supports around 400,000 jobs, which is why it's crucial these markets work well for business," said Will Hayter, the CMA's executive director for digital markets. The investigation into Apple and Google's app stores, browsers and operating systems focused on how prominent their own apps are compared with rivals. "Around 90-100% of UK mobile devices running on Apple or Google's mobile platforms," the CMA has previously said, adding this meant the firms "hold an effective duopoly". According to analysis from Uswitch, 48.5% of UK users have an iPhone - which runs Apple's iOS operating system (OS) - with the vast majority of the rest using Google's Android OS. It comes after a separate decision taken in October, where the CMA designated Google's search division as having strategic market status. Possible changes