- Elon Musk's Twitter war on Apple Inc AAPL gave Spotify Technology S.A. SPOT and Fortnite maker Epic Games a powerful ally in taking the tech giant to task over its 30% App Store fees.
- Spotify has previously submitted antitrust complaints against the iPhone maker in Europe, and Epic Games sued Apple in the U.S. in 2020, Reuters reported.
- Musk criticized the fee Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases and posted a meme suggesting he was willing to "go to war" rather than pay the levy.
- Musk also suggested Apple had threatened to block Twitter from its app store for reasons undisclosed.
- The European Commission investigated whether Apple's rules for app developers violated its rules after Spotify filed an antitrust case against Apple in 2019.
- Apple risks a fine of up to 10% of its global turnover if found guilty of breaching E.U. antitrust rules.
- Finimize analyst Luke Suddards said Apple was "playing a dangerous game" by threatening to pull Twitter from its App Store.
- "If Twitter was kicked off, there could be another lawsuit developing. We saw Elon Musk use the courts effectively during his Twitter purchase, and it would be no surprise if he pursued the same strategy now."
- But some analysts are concerned that going to battle with Apple might push more users away from Twitter.
- Apple has said the commissions it gets help it fund reviews of apps to ensure consumers are not exposed to fraudulent, pornographic, or privacy-intrusive apps.
- Price action: AAPL shares traded higher by 0.60% at $142 in the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.
- Photo via Wikimedia Commons
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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