November 30, 2022
Elon Musk has found allies in music streaming giant Spotify and Epic Games, creators of the popular online game Fortnite, who, like Musk, are fed up with Apple’s 30% App Store fees.
Musk first chastised Apple for charging software developers a fee for in-app purchases and posted a meme implying he was willing to “go to war” rather than pay the fee. Later, he stated that Apple had threatened to remove Twitter from its app store and that Apple was no longer advertising with Twitter, but he did not elaborate.
His claim appears to be justified, as Spotify has previously filed antitrust complaints against Apple in Europe, and Epic Games will sue Apple in the United States in 2020.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is looking into whether Apple’s app developer rules violate EU law. If found guilty, Apple faces a fine of up to 10% of its global revenue. However, Apple maintains that the commissions help it fund app reviews, ensuring that consumers are not exposed to fraudulent, pornographic, or privacy-invading apps.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
