Why Elon Musk Thinks Epic Is Right In Its Fight Against Apple

Apple Inc AAPL is locked in a legal battle with video game developer Epic over the former's restrictive practices in its App Store and the 30% commission its charges for each purchase made on its App Store.

Musk Leaps to Epic's Defence: Tesla Inc.'s TSLA opinionated CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet Friday Epic may after all be right in taking on Apple. Musk's argument against Apple is that the App Store fee is a "de facto global tax" imposed on the Internet.

Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the Internet. Epic is right.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2021

Related Link: Why This Apple Stock Analyst Says It's Time To Buy

The Relationship That Soured: Epic has taken exception to Apple preventing other payment options on its iPhone, iPad and iPod. The manufacturer of the hugely popular Fortnite game tried circumventing Apple's steep commission by using an in-app payment system in Fortnite in August 2020. Apple retaliated by removing Epic Games from its App Store.

In response to a lawsuit filed by Epic, Apple filed a countersuit that alleged Epic violated the contract terms between both parties. The bench trial ran from May 3 to May 24 and a decision is due any time.

Musk, An Apple-phobic? Musk and Apple have never been on the best of terms. The Tesla CEO revealed in a tweet in December 2020 he had approached Apple regarding a potential takeover when his company was finding the going tough in 2017 amid the development of the Model 3 vehicle. Musk was ready to sell Tesla to Apple at a throwaway price vis-à-vis the steep valuation of its shares currently.

On Tesla's second-quarter earnings call, Musk took a potshot at Apple for using cobalt in batteries that are used to run its gadgets. "On a weighted-average basis we might use 2% cobalt compared to say, Apple's 100% cobalt," Musk said on the call.

At last check, Apple shares were up 0.15% at $145.86.

Related Link: How Elon Musk Reacted To Suggestion That AMC Should Accept Dogecoin

Photo: Fortnite image courtesy of Epic