Japan starts enforcing app store and browser rules, formally designates Apple and Google under new competition law
Kai Tanaka ·
Japan began enforcing its new platform rules on Wednesday in Tokyo, formally designating Apple and Google as covered providers under the Smartphone Software Competition Promotion Act. The law targets mobile operating systems, app stores, browsers, and search, and aims to curb conduct regulators say limits choice and raises costs for developers and consumers.
The move matters now because it forces concrete product and policy changes inside iOS and Android in one of Apple’s largest markets by share. Japan typically records iPhone unit share above 50 percent, so compliance choices here affect global playbooks and developer economics.
The Fair Trade Commission and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will oversee compliance and penalties. The statute authorizes surcharges of up to 6 percent of domestic revenue for violations, with higher rates for repeat offenses.
H2: What the law requires
Designated firms must allow third party payment processing inside apps and cannot block steering to external billing. They must permit competing app stores, and cannot use technical restrictions that make alternative distribution unworkable.
The rules also require access to key smartphone functions on fair terms, including browser engines and near field communication for payments. Search and browser providers must present choice screens and cannot self preference their own services.
Japan’s text includes a prohibition on fees or technical changes that undermine the intent of the obligations. That targets tactics like new levies tied to external billing or distribution that would neutralize the effect of the rules.
H2: Why it matters for platforms and developers
Apple and Google face a diverging patchwork across the European Union, South Korea, and now Japan, which raises implementation costs and legal risk. Japan’s ban on conduct that negates the rules narrows room for workaround fees and could influence how companies structure global compliance.
Domestic wallets and app stores stand to gain distribution and payments volume. PayPay, Line Pay, Rakuten Pay, and carrier billing units at NTT Docomo and KDDI have pushed for access to iPhone functionality and less restrictive in app billing for years.
Developers that rely on subscriptions and high frequency payments will watch whether platform changes materially lower effective take rates. Any reduction in payment friction on iOS in Japan would ripple into customer acquisition costs and pricing strategy across markets with similar rules.