Elon Musk called out Apple's App Store fee, saying it's 'like having a 30% tax on the Internet'

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Elon Musk called out Apple's App Store fee, saying it's 'like having a 30% tax on the Internet'
Elon MuskPatrick Pleul/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
  • Elon Musk is criticizing Apple's App Store commission of up to 30% on paid apps and in-app purchases.
  • He called it "a 30% tax on the Internet," saying it's "literally 10 times higher than it should be."
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Add Elon Musk to the list of people who have called out Apple for its App Store commission.

In a pair of tweets on Tuesday, Musk went after Apple for taking a 30% cut from developers on the App Store's paid app downloads and in-app purchases.

"Apple's store is like having a 30% tax on the Internet. Definitely not ok," he said in one tweet. "Literally 10 times higher than it should be," he later added.

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Musk isn't the only CEO to criticize the commission.

In August 2020, BuzzFeed News reported that Meta's Mark Zuckerberg said at a companywide meeting that Apple has a "stranglehold as a gatekeeper on what gets on phones" and charges "monopoly rents" that squash competition in the App Store. His reported remarks came after Apple refused Meta's request to reduce the 30% fee on a new paid feature that Facebook said was intended to help small business owners struggling in the pandemic.

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A month later, Zuckerberg told Axios that Apple "deserves scrutiny" over how it runs the App Store.

Plenty of developers, including Fortnite creator Epic Games, have also called out Apple's 30% commission over the years.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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