Tesla’s Musk voices support for Epic amid Apple lawsuit

Tesla’s Elon Musk voiced support for Epic Games amid its lawsuit with Apple over the removal of the video game “Fortnite” from the App Store.

Epic Games filed suit against Apple in a California federal court last year after the tech giant removed “Fortnite” in August over a feature allowing iOS users to pick whether to make in-app purchases through the App Store or directly from Epic.

Musk said on Twitter “Epic is right.” 

“Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the Internet. Epic is right,” Musk tweeted.

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

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2021

Epic’s feature was a way to get around Apple’s commission fees for the App Store. Apple requires developers that use its platform to use Apple’s payment methods, which give the company 30 percent of all in-app revenue.

The policy has since come under scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators both in the U.S. and internationally.

Responding to another Twitter user later Friday, Musk said he likes Apple products, but dubbed the 30 percent fee “completely unreasonable.”

“I mean 30% fees for doing almost zero incremental work is completely unreasonable. Epic wouldn’t bother processing their own payments if App Store fees were fair,” Musk tweeted.

“Normally, competitive pressure would force Apple to lower fees, but Apple & Android have a duopoly on phones. When interface familiarity is taken into account, it’s basically a monopoly. The effective 30% sales tax Apple charges is hidden from users or there would be an outcry,” he continued.

Normally, competitive pressure would force Apple to lower fees, but Apple & Android have a duopoly on phones. When interface familiarity is taken into account, it’s basically a monopoly.

The effective 30% sales tax Apple charges is hidden from users or there would be an outcry.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2021