IT House News on December 20th Apple has decided to abandon its appeal against a British court ruling that resumed a comprehensive antitrust investigation into the company’s dominance of the mobile browser and cloud gaming markets, meaning that the investigation will Starting in January next year.
At the end of November, London's Court of Appeal overturned an earlier judgment that had suspended the investigation, cementing the powers of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The 21-day grace period gives Apple a sufficient window to respond before the investigation reopens.
Apple could have appealed to the Court of Appeal, but ultimately chose not to, This means that the CMA's investigation will be restarted, examining Apple's influence in the mobile browser market and its cloud gaming policy on the App Store.
In November 2022, the CMA launched an investigation into Apple and Google's restrictions on cloud gaming and mobile browsers, suggesting that the two companies are hindering innovation and increasing costs for web developers, cloud gaming service providers and browser vendors . The decision was initially overturned by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which agreed with Apple that the CMA had launched its investigation too late.
The latest judgment from the Court of Appeal clarified that the CMA acted within the law and rejected Apple's argument about time limits. The ruling stresses that such restrictions only apply to consultation procedures in market research and do not limit the CMA’s wider investigative powers.
IT Home noted that the court emphasized the CMA’s important role in promoting competition and protecting consumer interests, noting that limiting these powers could have “serious consequences.” The investigation is part of a wider CMA review of the power of tech giants such as Apple and Google in the mobile ecosystem, focusing on mobile device operating systems, app stores and web browsers.
