Other · ongoing · ~6 min read
CMA strategic market status — Apple mobile
2025–present · mobile operating systems, app distribution
The UK regulator opened a strategic-market case on Apple's mobile platform in 2025. In 2026 it was still about whether to designate Apple and what rules would follow. It is not the EU fine and not the US lawsuit.
The story
Britain's new digital-markets law is a conduct regime. The CMA opened an Apple investigation alongside Google.
The topics are the familiar ones: the App Store, the browser, and how closed the phone is.
Until a conduct requirement is published and in force, UK iPhones follow Apple's current rules.
Why it matters
A UK conduct rule can diverge from both Brussels and Washington.
Developers who ship to the UK care about the store terms that result.
What was claimed
That Apple's mobile platform may warrant strategic market status.
Not a claim for damages.
The other side
Apple says iOS competition happens between platforms and that UK rules should not copy the DMA's disputes.
What it means for you
No UK-only sideloading mandate follows just from the investigation opening.
Bottom line
The UK SMS case on Apple's mobile platform is open and unfinished.
Timeline
2025
Apple mobile SMS opened
The CMA paired an Apple mobile-platform investigation with its Google search work under the new UK regime.
2026
Still writing the rules
No final conduct requirement had replaced the investigation.
Key dates
- SMS investigation opened
- 2025
- Conduct rules unfinished
- 2026
Formal snapshot
Summary: The CMA opened a strategic market status investigation into Apple's mobile platform under the UK digital markets law. It is separate from EU DMA fines and from the US smartphone case.
Regulator / plaintiff argument: Apple's control of iOS distribution and defaults may be entrenched enough for UK conduct requirements on stores, browsers, and interoperability.
Outcome: Opened in 2025. As with the Google search SMS file, designation and conduct requirements were still the work in progress through 2026. No UK fine in this file.
Conduct tags
Laws referenced
- UK Competition Act 1998 Chapter I — Competition Act 1998, Ch. I
Companies
Sources
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