Apple Declines to Appeal UK Ruling That Revives Antitrust Probe Into Browser and Cloud Gaming Restrictions

[MacRumors]

Apple has decided to not appeal a UK court ruling that revives a comprehensive antitrust investigation into its dominance in mobile browsers and cloud gaming, meaning it will commence in January (via Open Web Advocacy).

In late November, London's Court of Appeal effectively reversed a previous verdict that had halted the probe, reinforcing the authority of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). There was a 21-day grace period before the investigation could restart to provide Apple with a sufficient window to respond.

Apple had the option to appeal to the Supreme Court until yesterday, but decided not to do so, meaning that the CMA's investigation is set to resume efforts to scrutinize the company's influence in the mobile browser market and its approach to cloud gaming on the App Store. The CMA's latest update:

18 December 2023: The deadline for Apple to seek the Court of Appeals permission to appeal the Court's decision has now lapsed, therefore in accordance with the Court's order dated 30 November 2023, the market investigation will recommence on 24 January 2023.

In November 2022, the CMA launched an investigation into the cloud gaming and mobile browser restrictions put in place by both Apple and Google, suggesting that the two companies were holding back innovation and increasing costs for web developers, cloud gaming service providers, and browser vendors. This decision was initially overturned by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which agreed with Apple that the CMA took too long to open an investigation.

The Court of Appeal's latest judgment clarified that the CMA acted within its legal bounds, rejecting Apple's argument regarding time limits. The ruling emphasized that such restrictions apply only to consultation processes within a market study and do not limit the CMA's broader investigative powers.

The court highlighted the CMA's role in promoting competition and safeguarding consumer interests, pointing out the potential "serious consequences" of restricting these powers. The investigation is a part of the CMA's broader effort to scrutinize the power exerted by tech giants like Apple and Google overs mobile ecosystems with a focus on operating systems, app stores, and web browsers on mobile devices.

Article Link: Apple Declines to Appeal UK Ruling That Revives Antitrust Probe Into Browser and Cloud Gaming Restrictions

 

[krspkbl]

just pull out of the UK. who needs it anyway?

edit: i'm british. i'm kiddin but for those who are serious.... go ahead lol

 

[toobravetosave]

Sorry apple but nobody wants Apple Arcade now stop denying game pass out of pure monopolistic greed

 

[djphat2000]

So let's force them to allow Chromium on the iPhone. So we can have competition?

 

[Sorinut]

So let's force them to allow Chromium on the iPhone. So we can have competition?

You can already put Chromium on the app store, if you want. It just can't use the Blink rendering engine.

 

[iSRS]

Sorry apple but nobody wants Apple Arcade now stop denying game pass out of pure monopolistic greed

If I remember correctly, it’s not that they’re looking for a cut (especially since XboX Game Pass customers don’t pay for the games, so it would be a percentage of zero, so zero) but that the wanted every single title submitted to the App Store to be reviewed and “available“ in the App Store. So, yeah, not going to happen.

should be treated like any video or music streaming app. End of story.

and I think that is happening in 2024. There was some comment by Microsoft ear this year that alluded to it, and now this adds more weight.

 

[Sorinut]

If I remember correctly, it’s not that they’re looking for a cut (especially since XboX Game Pass customers don’t pay for the games, so it would be a percentage of zero, so zero) but that the wanted every single title submitted to the App Store to be reviewed and “available“ in the App Store. So, yeah, not going to happen.

should be treated like any video or music streaming app. End of story.

and I think that is happening in 2024. There was some comment by Microsoft ear this year that alluded to it, and now this adds more weight.

Didn't Microsoft already get around this by running the game pass in the browser? I'm not a gamer, at all, so I have no idea how any of it works, but I remember hearing about it.

 

[iSRS]

Didn't Microsoft already get around this by running the game pass in the browser? I'm not a gamer, at all, so I have no idea how any of it works, but I remember hearing about it.

Yes. And works surprisingly well. But the want a native app.

 

[contacos]

They are probably like „we have to make those changes for the EU by march 2024 anyway, we might as well wait out the verdict and just implement the same for the UK (if required)“

 

[toobravetosave]

If I remember correctly, it’s not that they’re looking for a cut (especially since XboX Game Pass customers don’t pay for the games, so it would be a percentage of zero, so zero) but that the wanted every single title submitted to the App Store to be reviewed and “available“ in the App Store. So, yeah, not going to happen.

should be treated like any video or music streaming app. End of story.

and I think that is happening in 2024. There was some comment by Microsoft ear this year that alluded to it, and now this adds more weight.

That was just a ploy to prevent it from being on the App Store and competing with apps that actually will give apple a cut

 

[arkitect]

*Fumes*
Apple should pull out of the EU!!!!
*Fumes*

Oh, wait…

/s

 

[lkrupp]

Wait. What? Apple dominates the mobile browser market? Tell that to the myriad of Android fanboys here on MacRumors. Aren’t we constantly told that no one uses Safari because no one uses an iPhone in Europe, let alone iMessage.

Please, someone straighten me out here.

 

[cocky jeremy]

AKA they know they'll win anyway.

 

[makitango]

You can already put Chromium on the app store, if you want. It just can't use the Blink rendering engine.

That‘s like saying you can have your space shuttle, just without your engine.

 

[switz]

I do wish these regulators would dust off their navels so they could see where they are going.....

 

[webkit]

Wait. What? Apple dominates the mobile browser market? Tell that to the myriad of Android fanboys here on MacRumors. Aren’t we constantly told that no one uses Safari because no one uses an iPhone in Europe, let alone iMessage.

Please, someone straighten me out here.

This is specifically about the UK. According to Statcounter, Safari has the largest share of the mobile browser market in the UK.

 

[Sorinut]

That‘s like saying you can have your space shuttle, just without your engine.

I suspect that 99% of people select their browser because a) it's the default or b) they like the user-facing features. Almost no one cares about the underlying rendering engine, even people who know what it is. I don't care what's underneath.

I think that Apple should allow other engines, however.

 

[Ethosik]

Yes. And works surprisingly well. But the want a native app.

Native apps are mostly wrappers for browser and websites anyway.

 

[iZac]

Maybe (just maybe) side-loading is imminent which could sidestep this whole anti trust investigation, so Apple is happy for it to recommence next month?

 

[TheColtr]

Maybe (just maybe) side-loading is imminent which could sidestep this whole anti trust investigation, so Apple is happy for it to recommence next month?

That’s what I was thinking. This could be a sign that they’re going to roll out side loading in more countries than just the EU. It’s a very interesting signal that they’re not appealing. My guess is they’ve come up with some concessions that they think are going to satisfy all anti-trust investigations and laws across all countries.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

So let's force them to allow Chromium on the iPhone. So we can have competition?

Forget Chromium I want Gecko so I can have FireFox at it's full potential on my phone. Gecko > Chromium

Maybe (just maybe) side-loading is imminent which could sidestep this whole anti trust investigation, so Apple is happy for it to recommence next month?

It's no secret sideloading has been coming. The problem is sideloading looks to be restricted to just regions that are requiring it, namely EU member countries and Japan. I would love for sideloading to also be available for the US and UK but it would require legislation to force Apple to do it, because god knows they won't do it out of the goodness of their heart

That’s what I was thinking. This could be a sign that they’re going to roll out side loading in more countries than just the EU. It’s a very interesting signal that they’re not appealing. My guess is they’ve come up with some concessions that they think are going to satisfy all anti-trust investigations and laws across all countries.

Literally just do it like it's done on the Mac, where trusted developers will open with no problem but unsigned .ipas or unknown developers you gotta go through extra steps to open the app.

 

[WB2Colorado]

It's pretty obvious that Apple's restrictions on cloud gaming services was aimed at keeping competitors to Apple Arcade off of the App Store. There's no other reason to block what is essentially a interactive streaming video service.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

It's pretty obvious that Apple's restrictions on cloud gaming services was aimed at keeping competitors to Apple Arcade off of the App Store. There's no other reason to block what is essentially a interactive streaming video service.

Just goes to show how absolutely out of touch Apple is when it comes to gaming and it took an entire lawsuit from Epic Games for them to wake up. Even then with GPTK it doesn't feel like they're doing enough.

 

[kc9hzn]

In November 2022, the CMA launched an investigation into the cloud gaming and mobile browser restrictions put in place by both Apple and Google, suggesting that the two companies were holding back innovation and increasing costs for web developers, cloud gaming service providers, and browser vendors.

Wait, what?! “increasing costs for web developers”? As someone who’s done web development, that seems dodgy. Browser vendors, I dunno that’s more of a Google thing. And cloud gaming service providers? Are we just gonna pretend that all the “cloud gaming service providers” out there aren’t already major incumbent players in the gaming market already? I dunno, that rationale seems silly to me.

The court highlighted the CMA's role in promoting competition and safeguarding consumer interests, pointing out the potential "serious consequences" of restricting these powers. The investigation is a part of the CMA's broader effort to scrutinize the power exerted by tech giants like Apple and Google overs mobile ecosystems with a focus on operating systems, app stores, and web browsers on mobile devices.

Of course a regulator is gonna toot its own horn and scream bloody murder about the risks if its powers are in any way reduced. And if something bad happens on its watch, then the regulator gets to demand bigger budgets and more resources. They’re never in the wrong, but everyone else is. There’s never any effective oversight, which is part of the reason why they’re so prone to regulatory capture. (In this case, the likes of Microsoft, Sony, and NVidia seem to be the source of the complaint.)

 

[Ctrlos]

Wait. What? Apple dominates the mobile browser market? Tell that to the myriad of Android fanboys here on MacRumors. Aren’t we constantly told that no one uses Safari because no one uses an iPhone in Europe, let alone iMessage.

Please, someone straighten me out here.

The best mobile browser is either Safari or Samsung Internet. Both of them support ABP adblocking and it makes browsing the web so much nicer. I don't object to in-line ads but the plethora of text-based websites using oxymoronic video ads is disgusting and unwanted. Chrome is a mess.

iPhones are hugely popular in Europe but because Android has a big marketshare, nobody uses iMessage. Even my iPhone-to-iPhone mates all use WhatsApp.