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Investing.com -- Britain’s antitrust regulator has found that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s dominant position in cloud computing is negatively affecting competition, with the situation made worse by technical and commercial barriers that make it difficult for customers to switch providers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) inquiry group said on Thursday that the regulator should investigate whether to designate the two tech giants with strategic market status (SMS) in cloud services, which would allow it to impose tailored conditions on their operations.
The inquiry group noted that the CMA has indicated it will not consider launching new SMS investigations through its Digital Markets Unit until early next year.
While Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is recognized as the third major cloud services provider, the regulator pointed out that it holds a significantly smaller market share compared to Amazon and Microsoft.
Microsoft responded to the findings by saying the report "misses the mark again, ignoring that the cloud market has never been so dynamic and competitive, with record investment, and rapid, AI-driven changes."
A Microsoft spokesperson also criticized the recommendations for failing to include Google, which they described as "one of the fastest-growing cloud market participants."
"Microsoft looks forward to working with the Digital Markets Unit toward an outcome that more accurately reflects the current competition in cloud that benefits UK customers," the spokesperson added.
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