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