In a series of tweets released on Monday, Twitter’s CEO, Elon Musk announced that Apple threatened to remove Twitter from its app store. According to Musk, Apple has already removed many advertisements from the platform. Quoting Apple’s fees as a “secret 30% tax”, Musk disclosed that he wasn’t sure why Twitter was taking that course of action.
Both Spotify and Epic Games, among many other companies have also had disputes with Apple about fees and policies. However, Apple’s app store is a large distribution platform for many companies such as Twitter, which is already facing serious declines in its revenues. Advertisements from other companies also account for about 90% of Twitter’s revenue, making it particularly vulnerable to a decrease in ads.
The following sources were used:
- Apple threatening to pull Twitter from its app store, Elon Musk alleges, CBC
- Elon Musk’s Apple Attack Sets Stage for Public Spat With Risks for Apple, Twitter, The Wall Street Journal