LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s declaration of war on Apple (AAPL.O) in a series of tweets on Monday gives Spotify and Fortnite maker Epic Games a powerful ally to take on the tech giant at the test on its App Store at 30%. costs.
Musk criticized fees charged by Apple to software developers for in-app purchases and posted a meme suggesting he was ready to “wage war” rather than pay the tax. Musk also suggested that Apple threatened to block Twitter from its app store, although he didn’t explain why.
Spotify has already filed antitrust complaints against the iPhone maker in Europe, and Epic Games sued Apple in the United States in 2020.
Since buying Twitter last month, Musk has unveiled plans to charge users $8 a month to be verified on the social media platform to boost profitability and stave off bankruptcy. A 30% discount on this would be a big blow to those plans.
The European Commission investigated whether Apple’s rules for app developers breach its rules after Spotify filed an antitrust complaint against Apple in 2019.
Apple faces a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide turnover if it is found to have breached EU antitrust rules.
Luke Suddards, an analyst at investment analytics firm Finimize, said Apple was “playing a dangerous game” by threatening to pull Twitter from its App Store.
“If Twitter were launched, another lawsuit could develop. We saw Elon Musk effectively use the courts during his purchase of Twitter and it would not be surprising if he pursued the same strategy now.”
[1/3] The Twitter logo and a photo of Elon Musk are shown under magnifying glass in this illustration taken October 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/
Earlier this month, “Fortnite” video game maker Epic Games asked a U.S. federal appeals panel of three judges to overturn parts of a lower court antitrust ruling that overwhelmingly favored Apple. and its App Store payment business.
Apple had said the commissions it receives help fund app reviews to ensure consumers are not exposed to fraudulent, pornographic or privacy-intrusive apps.
“Apple continues to disadvantage its competitors, and the impact is enormous – on consumers, app developers, and now, authors and publishers. If policymakers don’t act, nothing will change,” the CEO wrote. of Spotify, Daniel Ek, on Twitter last month.
Musk, who was buying Twitter at the time, wrote “concerning” in response to Ek’s post.
But some analysts worry that a fight with Apple could drive more users away from Twitter.
“As Musk seeks to reignite the ongoing battle between Apple and developers, all of this negativity will scare Twitter users away,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.
“People won’t give up their iPhones… They’re used to signing up for different social services but only using one phone at a time,” he said.
Apple, Twitter and Spotify did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Martin Coulter; Editing by Susan Fenton
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