Abstract

With the advent of the knowledge-based economy and the rapid development of new ICT technologies, the digitalization of the market is taking place in earnest. The view that the market dominance established in the digital market may be vulnerable to the emergence of innovative services has been maintained. However, with the growth of big tech platform companies represented by GAFAM, the innovation competition in the digital market has weakened, and the focus is on large platform companies. Concerns about the phenomenon becoming entrenched are growing. In response to this situation, domestic and foreign competition authorities are strengthening antitrust deliberation on M&As in the new ICT industry. However, M&A is one of the important strategic considerations for both incumbents and start-ups. It overlooks the dynamics of the digital platform market, and in case of over-regulation, it can lead to retrogression in industrial development due to the possibility of errors in law enforcement and the inhibition of innovative technologies.
Based on this, the desirable direction of enforcement of competition law in the dynamic market was presented, considering the characteristics of the new ICT industry market and the impact of the innovation ecosystem. As for the review of business merger, it is necessary to consider the rate of change in market share, a survey on consumer perceptions of competing products, and market proximity in consideration of the composition of user groups, as well as the market share and acquisition price. For vertical mergers, it needs to strengthen the merger review for platform companies that act as gatekeepers. Furthremore, the antitrust authority should force the acquired company to non-exclusively license its intellectual assets to rival competitors.