Apple says UK regulator’s remedy options on mobile browsers will hit innovation

The responses from Apple and Google to the regulator’s investigation were published on the government website on Wednesday [File]
| Photo Credit: AP

Apple has told Britain’s competition regulator that some of the remedy options proposed by the watchdog to address concerns in the mobile browser market would impact the iPhone maker’s incentive to innovate.

The responses from Apple and Google to the regulator’s investigation in the supply of mobile browsers and browser engines and the distribution of cloud gaming services through app stores on mobile devices in the country were published on the government website on Wednesday.

With respect to remedy options on providing feature access, Apple said it would “not be appropriate” to mandate that access to future WebKit or that iOS features in use by Safari be provided free of charge, adding that developing features is a time and resource-intensive process.

“Apple cannot recoup a reasonable amount of those expenses … to do so would have a chilling impact on Apple’s incentives to innovate and would lead to free-riding and underinvestment on the part of third parties.”