Summary Apple says proposed UK App Store regulations amount to price controls and could undermine innovation, investment and its digital marketplace model.
LONDON (Reuters) – Apple has argued that proposed UK rules governing its App Store would effectively impose price regulation, warning that changes to its in-app payment system could undermine innovation and investment.
In a submission to Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the iPhone maker said the proposed "steering" requirements would go beyond promoting competition and give the regulator a "highly intrusive" role in managing its business.
The CMA's consultation, which closed on Monday, is part of the UK's efforts to increase competition and consumer choice in digital markets. The proposals would allow app developers to direct users to payment options outside Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store, while requiring any fees charged for doing so to be fair and reasonable.
Apple said its App Store facilitated more than £46.5 billion in UK billings and sales during 2025, with commissions accounting for less than 3.5% of the total. The company argued there is no evidence that changing its payment model would reduce prices for consumers.
The company said the proposals would not only regulate the commissions it charges but also restrict the products and services for which it can collect fees.
Gene Burrus, global policy counsel for the Coalition for App Fairness, rejected Apple's position, saying the company was overlooking the barriers developers face and using its dominance as a platform operator to gain unfair competitive advantages.
Apple has previously maintained that developers already have multiple ways to conduct transactions with users outside its platform.
The CMA consultation is part of Britain's new digital markets framework, which allows the regulator to impose tailored requirements on companies designated as having strategic market status. Apple and Google received that designation last year.
