Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. were hit with UK antitrust investigations over concerns their dominance in mobile services is distorting the market and putting up barriers to entry for competitors.

The U.K.'s CMA is launching so-called "strategic market status" (SMS) investigations into the mobile ecosystems of Apple and Google.

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Apple's and Google’s mobile platforms, just days after the government forced out its chair as part of a push to cut the regulatory burden on business.