April 2023 – On 12 April 2023, the Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”) announced that it initiated a sector inquiry into mobile ecosystems. The sector inquiry aims to identify the possible competitive and anti-competitive effects caused by mobile ecosystems, develop effective policies based on them, and ultimately establish a competitive market in the digital economy.
The Authority underlined that mobile ecosystems are important components of the digital economy and noted that, as mobile smart devices provide fast and easy access to a wide range of products the functioning of the mobile ecosystem has a direct impact on consumer welfare.
The Authority emphasised that each component of the mobile ecosystem, such as operating systems, applications, and app stores, are closely related to each other and can therefore raise competitive concerns. Furthermore, the Authority pointed out that the fact that undertakings with market power due to big data advantages and network effects operate in many sub-markets of the mobile ecosystem simultaneously, further increasing competition concerns in this sector. The Authority further highlighted that this process may have exclusionary effects on competing products/services, limit consumer preferences, and have a negative impact on innovation.
Finally, the Authority stated that during the sector inquiry it will seek input not only from service providers but also from application developers, end-users, and device manufacturers.
By Bulut Girgin, Counsel, Head of Competition & Compliance, and Simru Tayfun, Associate, Kinstellar
