Elon Musk Is Not Alone, Spotify And Epic Games Are The Ally Of Twitter War Against Apple

Elon Musk seriously fought against Apple, during a gun post.. (photo: twitter @elonmusk)

JAKARTA – Elon Musk's declaration of war on Apple that emerged in a series of tweets on Monday, November 28  made Spotify and the creator of the game Fortnite, Epic Games, a strong ally in fighting the tech giant Apple, over the App Store's 30% fee fixing.

Musk criticized the fees Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases, and posted memes suggesting he was willing to "go to war" rather than pay Apple's pegged levy. Musk also suggested Apple threatening to block Twitter from its app store, although he didn't explain why.

Spotify has previously filed antitrust complaints against the iPhone maker in Europe, and Epic Games sued Apple in the United States in 2020.

Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022

Since buying Twitter last month, Musk has unveiled a plan to charge users $8 per month for verification on the social media platform to increase profitability and avoid bankruptcy. A 30% cut on that would seriously undermine the plan.

The European Commission has been investigating whether Apple's rules for app developers violated its rules after Spotify filed an antitrust case against Apple in 2019.

Apple risks being fined as much as 10% of its global turnover if found guilty of violating EU antitrust rules.

Luke Suddards, an analyst at investment insights firm Finimize, said Apple was "playing a dangerous game" by threatening to pull Twitter from its App Store.

Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022

"If Twitter is launched, there could be another lawsuit developing. We saw Elon Musk use the courts effectively during his purchase of Twitter and it's not surprising that he's using the same strategy now," Suddards said.

Earlier this month, "Fortnite" video game maker Epic Games also asked a U.S. federal court appeal panel. consisting of three judges to overturn part of a lower court antitrust ruling that largely favored Apple and its App Store payments business.

Apple has said the commissions it earns help fund app reviews to ensure consumers aren't exposed to fraudulent, pornographic or privacy-intrusive apps.

"Apple continues to hurt competitors, and the impact is huge on consumers, app developers, and now, writers and publishers. Without policy makers taking action, nothing will change," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote on Twitter last month.

Musk, who at the time was in the process of buying Twitter, wrote "apprehensive" in response to Ek's post. But some analysts worry that the battle with Apple could push more users away from Twitter.

My bedside table pic.twitter.com/sIdRYJcLTK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022

"While Musk seeks to reignite the ongoing battle between Apple and developers, all this negativity is driving Twitter away," said Paolo Pescatore, analyst at PP Foresight.

"People are not going to throw away their iPhones... They have become used to signing up for different social services but only using one phone at a time," Pescatore said.

Apple, Twitter and Spotify did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the media on the report.