The European Commission (EC) has officially designated six companies as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) as of September 6. The designated companies include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, while Samsung was not included in this designation.

The designation process is based on three criteria: the provision of core platform services (CPS), significant impact on the internal market, and an entrenched position in the market. The EC has identified 22 core platform services that meet the quantitative criteria set out in the DMA.

In addition to the designations, the EC will conduct market investigations to determine whether certain services from Microsoft and Apple qualify as gateways. This includes Microsoft's Bing and Edge, as well as Apple's iMessages. The Commission has a timeline of five months to conclude these investigations.

Furthermore, the EC is exploring qualitative designations, as seen with Apple's iPadOS, which may be designated despite not meeting the quantitative thresholds. The process for qualitative designations involves a more extended investigation period and additional formalities.

The EC's designation decisions are not static; they will continue to monitor the market and may designate additional companies or services in the future. The absence of cloud computing services and virtual assistants from the current designations raises questions about their future under the DMA.