Japanese Watchdog Calls For Multiple Competing App Stores

 A new Japanese antitrust report into the smartphone market has raised the possibility of new legislation intended to reduce the dominance of Apple and Google. It calls for multiple app stores for each platform.

Additionally, it suggests that the pre-installation of Apple and Google’s own web browsers on smartphones means that competitor apps are disadvantaged, reported Kyodo News.

In the interim report released following discussions about digital market competition, the government sees the Google and Apple internet browsing apps being pre-installed in smartphones as a problem.

The report proposed the introduction of rules to prohibit acts that prevent users making decisions and choices, as such practice could eliminate the room for competition.

The government also expressed concern over application developers paying a high fee to Apple as they can only distribute their products through the company’s store and called for allowing OS providers to allow users to select the app store of their choice.

Apple has lodged a protest following the release of a Japanese government report that indicated the possibility of regulations being introduced to ensure fair competition in the smartphone operating system market, which has been dominated by two major U.S. tech firms.

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