Long before the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk and his investors, relations between the American billionaire and Apple were already strained. Indeed, as CEO of Tesla, Musk has already thrown many tackles at Apple.
And today, as the boss of Twitter, Elon Musk is outright declaring “war”.
Why is Elon Musk mad at Apple?
In one of his recent tweets, Elon Musk says Apple has joined the list of companies that have stopped buying ads on Twitter. However, it would seem that the Cupertino company is a very important advertiser for the social network.
According to an article by the Washington Post, which had access to confidential documents, Apple spent $48 million on Twitter ads in the first quarter. This would have made the Cupertino company the main advertiser of the social network, and would have represented 4% of Twitter’s revenue during this quarter.
In other words, Apple’s ad suspension (likely due to Musk’s recent decisions regarding moderation and suspended accounts) could have a big impact on Twitter’s finances.
But that’s not all. Musk also accuses Apple of threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store, without giving a reason.
Apple has also threatened to withhold Twitter from its App Store, but won’t tell us why
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Since yesterday, the new owner of Twitter, who defines himself as an “absolutist of freedom of expression” has embarked on a series of publications defending his management of the social network.
Elon Musk multiplies the tackles against Apple
In one of these tweets, he announces the upcoming publication of the “Twitter Files”, documents that are supposed to reveal to the general public the “freedom of expression suppressions” that have taken place on the platform. And he offers Apple to do the same.
Apple should publish all censorship actions it has taken that affect its customers
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
On other publications, Musk criticizes the moderation of the App Store by Apple, and the fact that the Cupertino company is sometimes accused of not being transparent on the subject.
Who else has Apple censored? https://t.co/lZculFIkAX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Another topic recently discussed by Elon Musk: the App Store commission. As a reminder, this is a commission of 15 to 30% that the Cupertino company takes on transactions between app users and developers (for example, on the payment of subscriptions).
Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store? https://t.co/LGkPZ4EYcz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Elon Musk issues declaration of war (then deletes)
In one of his recent posts, Musk even posted a meme that is a real declaration of “war”. The image indicates that Elon Musk would rather go to war than pay the 30% commission. For some unknown reason, however, this meme was deleted.
Musk threatens war with Apple.
https://t.co/vLIvulT2NY pic.twitter.com/ECW6eARxVg— Aaron Marcelineo (@AaronMarcelineo) November 29, 2022
Otherwise, it’s also worth noting that recently Elon Musk indicated that he could create an alternative to iPhone and Android smartphones, if necessary (should Twitter be removed from Apple’s and Google’s app stores ).
Nevertheless, as we explained in a recent article, breaking the duopoly of Apple and Google on mobile operating systems would be a difficult task. Even with the means of Elon Musk.
