CMA Wins Appeal From UK High Court In Apple Case

(RTTNews) - The Competition and Markets Authority or CMA has won an appeal from UK High Court, allowing it to open a market investigation into mobile browsers and cloud gaming, mainly of tech major Apple Inc. (AAPL).

The ruling overturns the Competition Appeal Tribunal or CAT's decision in March 2023, which upheld an appeal by Apple and suspended CMA's investigation.

In a unanimous judgement, High Court now found that CAT had erred in its interpretation of the Enterprise Act 2002.

The UK regulator had exercised its power under the Enterprise Act 2002 to make a market investigation reference in relation to the market for mobile browsers and cloud gaming in November 2022.

The lawfulness of that decision was challenged by Apple by appealing to the CAT which was heard on March 10.

CAT then had upheld the appeal made by Apple and suspended the CMA's investigation pending the Court of Appeal's judgment on March 31.

Following this, CMA appealed the CAT's judgment. The judges, including Lord Justice Green, Lord Justice Arnold, and the Chancellor of the High Court, now ruled that CMA's standalone power carries with it sufficient and important public law safeguards, overturning the CAT's decision.

"There is no overarching principle that an undertaking is entitled to be investigated once and only once. The principal purpose of the Enterprise Act is to promote competition and protect consumers" and, in its view, the Tribunal "lost sight of this consideration", the court said in a statement.

On Thursday, Apple shares are trading at $189.95, up 0.31% in the Nasdaq.