Apple, Google Face In-Depth Antitrust Probe of Mobile Market Power in U.K.


英国竞争监管机构正在就其所称的苹果公司和谷歌对一些移动设备软件施加的市场力量展开深入调查，从而加大了对美国大型科技公司的全球审查力度。


一些大型科技竞争对手支持对苹果公司和谷歌的调查。

英国竞争监管机构正在就其所称的苹果公司(Apple Inc., AAPL)和Alphabet (GOOG)旗下谷歌(Google)对一些移动设备软件施加的市场力量展开深入调查，从而加大了对美国大型科技公司的全球审查力度。 6park.com
The U.K.’s competition regulator is deepening its investigation into the market power it says Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google exert over some mobile-device software, ramping up global scrutiny of big U.S.-based technology companies. 6park.com
  
英国竞争和市场管理局(CMA)周二表示，在一项公众咨询中获得支持后，其正在推进6月份提出的市场调查，调查这两家公司如何控制移动设备的网络浏览器，以及关于苹果公司限制其设备上云游戏的投诉。 6park.com
The Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday that, after receiving support in a public consultation, that it is moving forward with a market investigation it proposed in June into how the companies control web browsers for mobile devices, as well as complaints that Apple restricts cloud gaming on its devices. 6park.com
  
作为其提议的一部分，CMA称，苹果公司和谷歌在移动设备上形成了实际上的双头垄断，使它们能够对移动生态系统实施该监管机构所称的压制。该监管机构周二表示，展开调查的原因之一是英国迟迟没有赋予其竞争监管机构对数字市场的新权力，类似于欧盟最近批准的那些权力，CMA认为这可能有助于解决这些问题。 6park.com
As part of its proposal, the CMA said that Apple and Google operate an effective mobile-device duopoly that enables them to exercise what the regulator called a stranglehold over mobile ecosystems. The regulator said Tuesday that it is opening the investigation in part because the U.K. has delayed giving its competition regulator new power over digital markets similar to those recently passed in the European Union, which it said could help resolve those issues. 6park.com
  
“与此同时，我们正在利用我们现有的权力来解决我们可以解决的问题，”CMA的临时首席执行官Sarah Cardell说。“许多英国企业和网络开发商告诉我们，它们觉得它们被苹果公司和谷歌设定的限制所束缚。” 根据英国的规则，市场调查可以导致有约束力的命令，以改变做法，但不罚款。 6park.com
“In the meantime, we are using our existing powers to tackle problems where we can,” said Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s interim chief executive. “Many U.K. businesses and web developers tell us they feel that they are being held back by restrictions set by Apple and Google.” Under U.K. rules, market investigations can lead to binding orders to change practices, but no fines. 6park.com
  
苹果公司发言人称：“我们将继续与CMA进行建设性的接触，以解释我们的做法如何促进竞争和选择，同时确保消费者的隐私和安全始终受到保护。” 谷歌发言人表示，CMA对苹果公司的移动操作系统提出的许多担忧并不适用于其Android系统。该发言人说：“与其他任何移动平台相比，Android系统为人们提供了有关应用程序和应用商店的更多选择。” 6park.com
“We will continue to engage constructively with the Competition and Markets Authority to explain how our approach promotes competition and choice, while ensuring consumers’ privacy and security are always protected,” an Apple spokesman said. A Google spokesman said many of the concerns that the CMA raises with regard to Apple’s mobile operating system don’t apply to its Android. “Android gives people a greater choice of apps and app stores than any other mobile platform,” the spokesman said. 6park.com
  
周二公布的意见显示，一些大型科技竞争对手支持对苹果公司和谷歌的调查；这些意见是CMA关于其调查进行的公众咨询的一部分。微软(Microsoft Corp., MSFT)称，如果不采取任何措施，苹果公司和谷歌对其移动生态系统的控制会对竞争造成越来越大的威胁。 6park.com
Some big tech rivals supported the investigation into Apple and Google, according to comments published Tuesday as part of the CMA’s public consultation on its investigation. Microsoft Corp. said Apple’s and Google’s control over their mobile ecosystems could cause increasing threats to competition if nothing is done. 6park.com
  
Facebook和Instagram的所有者Meta Platforms Inc. (META)表示，同意开展调查的选项，并敦促该监管机构扩大调查范围，调查苹果公司要求iPhone应用程序询问用户是否愿意被追踪的举措。去年作出的这一调整大大削减了Meta的收入，并导致其股票下挫。 6park.com
Meta Platforms Inc., owner of Facebook and Instagram, said it agreed with the choice to open an investigation—and urged the regulator to broaden it to look into Apple’s move to require iPhone apps to ask users whether they want to be tracked. That change last year has cut significantly into Meta’s revenues and caused its stock to stumble. 6park.com
  
一些应用开发商也提交了支持调查的意见，但在周二CMA公布的意见中隐去了它们的名称。一家自称是社交游戏公司的公司称，用户只要在线就能玩游戏的能力“受到了主要企业保护其自身市场力量和收入之政策的阻碍”。 6park.com
Several app developers also submitted comments in support of the investigation but withheld their names from the comments the CMA published on Tuesday. One, which identified itself as a social-gaming company, said the ability of users to play whenever they are online is “hampered by the policies of the main gatekeepers to protect their own market power and revenue.” 6park.com