Facebook-funded survey results show that 'Apple and Google pre-installed apps are hindering competition'
Many in-house apps of Apple and Google, which developed the OS, are pre-installed on mobile OS such as iOS and Android installed in smartphones. A new Facebook-funded study reveals that 'many of the apps used on iOS and Android are Apple and Google's own apps.'
Apple and Google crowd out the competition with default apps --The Verge
In recent years, there has been a growing movement to regulate the monopoly control of technology companies such as Apple and Google, and new bills have been submitted in the United States to strengthen antitrust laws.
A regulatory bill targeting giant IT companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon is submitted to the US House of Representatives --GIGAZINE
David Sicilini, chairman of the Antitrust Subcommittee, who drafted the bill, said he would 'ban pre-installation of in-house apps.' As a result, instead of the platform side pre-installing its own application, it may be obliged to provide 'alternative application options' when setting up the smartphone.
Apple may ban 'iOS pre-installed apps' under new antitrust law-GIGAZINE
The practice of pre-installing apps and services by mobile operating system manufacturers has been argued to be exclusive and unfair, as it hinders competition from competitors. So Facebook funded comScore , an American digital market analytics company, to investigate the impact of pre-installed apps on the competitiveness of the ecosystem.
Since Apple and Google did not disclose the number of users of their own apps, it was difficult to measure how popular they were compared to third-party apps. In December 2020, Comscore conducted a survey asking 'the default app for the mobile OS used last month', combined the results with regular survey data on the use of apps and websites, analyzed it, and used it frequently on each mobile OS. I found the top 20 apps that are known.
The graph below shows the top 20 apps with the highest number of monthly active users on iOS and Android, arranged in order from the top. The bar graphs are color coded by app manufacturer: gray for Apple, orange for Google, light blue for Facebook, purple for Samsung, yellow for Amazon, bright blue for Pandora (streaming app) , and desaturated blue for Wal-Mart . is showing. In-house apps account for 75% of the top 20 on iOS and 60% on Android, indicating that the top four are in-house apps. Facebook also ranked two in the top 20 for iOS and three on Android.
The Verge said the results suggest that basic apps such as calling, weather, photos, and clocks are pre-installed, with little room for competition. On the other hand, pre-installed apps do not win exclusively,
An Apple spokeswoman said of the findings: 'The Facebook-funded survey from December 2020 has been deliberately narrowed down to give the false impression that it's almost uncompetitive in the App Store. In fact, third-party apps are competing with Apple apps in all categories and have been very successful, 'commented The Verge. He argued that the survey method had serious flaws in many respects and was inconsistent with the survey results published by Comscore himself in April 2021.
The Verge, on the other hand, pointed out that Comscore's April survey did not focus on all pre-installed apps, unlike the survey commissioned by Facebook. On the other hand, comscore certainly admits that there is a 'habit' in the Facebook-funded survey, including browser apps such as Safari and Chrome, and features built into operating systems such as Siri. Besides, it says that there is no data about the makers of Android smartphones.
Still, The Verge claims that this report shows that mobile operating system makers have a tremendous amount of power over apps used on their devices. 'It's not just the app store that acts as the (app's) gatekeeper, but the smartphone itself is also the gatekeeper,' he said.
In addition, Google did not respond to The Verge's request for comment on the results of the comscore survey.
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