Japan Creates New Rules To Open Up Apple, Google Apps Stores To More Competition

A government panel in Japan has proposed a plan to increase competition in smartphone app payments. This plan involves prohibiting major app store operators from mandating the use of their own payment systems by software developers, as Apple and Google currently dominate this market.

According to a report released on Friday by the panel, major suppliers of smartphone operating systems should be required to provide users with secure alternatives for obtaining apps, aside from their own app stores. This was reported by Reuters.

The mobile operating system market in Japan is divided between Apple’s iOS and Alphabet’s Google’s Android.

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Apple and Google enforce policies that require developers to use their respective payment systems, which may charge commissions as high as 30%. Additionally, iPhone users can only download apps through Apple’s app store.

According to the report, legislative measures will be considered and the government plans to submit a related bill to parliament in the near future, as reported by the Asahi Shimbun daily on Saturday.