Elon Musk has once again brought up the issue of the “Apple tax.” Recently, the billionaire expressed his intention to discuss this matter with Apple CEO, Tim Cook. The main focus of the conversation will be to explore the possibility of adjusting Apple’s current 30% commission on in-app purchases, which Musk considers to be quite unreasonable.
Currently, Apple imposes a 30% cut on all in-app transactions made on iOS, including subscriptions sold by creators through platforms like Twitter or X. Musk advocates for a change in this policy, suggesting that Apple should only take a 30% commission on the portion of the payout retained by Twitter, rather than on the entire transaction amount.
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Musk also revealed that Twitter is making changes to its commission cuts from creators. Instead of taking 10% of subscription revenue after 12 months, the new policy will only apply a 10% cut once payouts exceed $100,000. This means that for the initial 12 months, Twitter will not deduct any percentage from creators’ earnings.
It’s important to note that Musk previously likened Apple’s fees to a “hidden 30% tax on the Internet” and delayed the launch of Twitter Blue on iOS to avoid these charges imposed by Apple. There were also claims that Apple had threatened to remove Twitter from the App Store, but Musk clarified after a meeting with Cook that it seemed to be a misunderstanding.
The question now is whether Apple will make changes to its policies in response to Musk’s concerns. Despite facing challenges from entities like Epic Games and Fortnite, Apple has granted exceptions to certain apps such as Netflix, Spotify, and Kindle, allowing them to link to external websites for user account creation. However, even this move was made in response to legal pressures from developers and investigations conducted by Japanese regulators.
