Elon Musk officially started a war for Twitter against Apple last Monday. It seems that Musk is not alone in this war, he has Spotify and Epic Games with him.
Elon Musk launched a war against Apple earlier this week. Musk stated that the fee Apple receives from applications in the App Store is very high. As you know, Twitter’s controversial Blue subscription is $8 a month and Musk doesn’t want to pay a part of this fee to Apple.
Apple charges a pretty high 30 percent fee from software developers for in-app purchases. In other words, 3 TL of a purchase of 10 TL from an application goes directly to Apple. Musk, on the other hand, started the war by posting an image showing that he was willing to “go to war” instead of paying this fee. Musk also claimed that Apple threatened to remove Twitter from the app store, although he did not explain why.
Both Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney showed their open support by retweeting related tweets from Elon Musk.
Spotify and Epic Games are Battling Apple
Spotify has previously filed antitrust complaints against Apple in Europe. Epic Games, on the other hand, sued Apple for this reason in the USA in 2020 and won this case in 2021. According to the outcome of the lawsuit, Apple will allow app developers to pay users cheaper outside of the App Store. Epic Game’s fight with Apple still continues legally.
Since acquiring Twitter last month, Musk has been trying to increase the platform’s profitability and avoid bankruptcy. For this reason, users who buy a Blue subscription in return for an approved account and some advantages are charged $ 8 per month. However, Apple’s 30 percent cuts turn these plans upside down.
The European Commission’s Investigation Continues
The European Commission said it would support its investigation, along with new evidence, this year after Spotify filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in 2019. However, the investigation is not yet finished. If Apple is found guilty of violating EU antitrust rules, it could face fines of up to 10% of its global turnover.
Luke Suddards, an analyst at investment advisory firm Finimize, called Apple’s threat to pull Twitter from the App Store a “dangerous game” and added, “There could have been another lawsuit if Twitter had stepped in. Elon Musk’s Twitter We saw that he used the courts effectively when buying .
Apple says it uses the 30 percent cut to fund app reviews to ensure consumers aren’t exposed to fraudulent, pornographic or infringing apps.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote on Twitter last month, “Apple continues to put its competitors at a disadvantage, and the impact on consumers, app developers, and now authors and publishers is huge. Nothing will change unless policymakers act.” he said. Time will tell what the next moves of Twitter, Spotify and Epic Games, which form a front against Apple, will be.
