Elon Musk Comments on Epic Games vs. Apple Lawsuit.

Elon Musk shared some thoughts on the legal dispute between Epic and Apple. Fortnite developer Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple after the game was removed from the iOS App Store in August. This happened after Epic incorporated a direct payment system into its game, which would allow bypassing the 30% commission on in-app purchases. Epic accused iPhone manufacturer Apple of anti-competitive practices and claims that the App Store should be considered a Monopoly. Apple refers to Epic’s lawsuit as a marketing stunt and states that its catalog provides developers with access to a huge user base of iPhone and iPad users.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk called the Apple App Store fees a “de facto global tax on the internet.” He added, “Pressure from competing firms in other cases has forced Apple to lower the commission, but Apple and Android have a duopoly on phones. Considering the familiarity with the interface, it is essentially a monopoly. The actual 30% sales tax imposed by Apple is hidden from users.”