Apple Inc. lodged a protest Tuesday following the release of a Japanese government report that discussed the possibility of regulating two major U.S. smartphone operating system providers to ensure fair competition in the market.

The U.S. technology giant said in a statement, "We respectfully disagree with a number of conclusions" in the government report released the same day that expressed concern that Apple and Alphabet Inc.'s Google LLC dominate the OS market.

Apple added that it is facing "intense competition in every business segment" in which it operates.

Meanwhile, Google said in a separate statement that it has been actively cooperating with the government, highlighting how much it has contributed to the industry, and added it will further examine the contents of the report.

The government released the interim report following discussions about digital market competition.

==Kyodo

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