This isn’t the first time that Musk has complained about the so-called Apple Tax. Last year, the multi-billionaire called Apple’s cut a “hidden 30% tax on the Internet.” Apple threatened to yank his social media platform, known at the time as Twitter, out of the App Store. After visiting Cook in Cupertino, Musk ended up saying “Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”
Musk says that he will meet with Tim Cook in an attempt to modify the Apple Tax
You might recall that around Thanksgiving time last year, rumors swirled about both Apple and Google removing Twitter from the App Store and Play Store respectively. Do you remember what Musk said he was going to do? He said that he would develop his own phone (the Tesla phone?) to spank Apple and Google and to keep Twitter relevant with phone users.
Tim Cook might come off as a folksy, friendly guy with his public persona, but when it comes to the Apple Tax, the man is a fierce, take no prisoners executive who would make Gordon Gekko cower. Musk might hope that he can talk Cook into agreeing to his plan, and yeah, some so-called “Reader apps” are allowed to link to the developer’s own web site to allow subscribers to manage their accounts and bypass the Apple Tax. But Cook allowed this to in order to get lawmakers and attorneys to back away from forcing even deeper changes to the Apple Tax.
We wouldn’t bet on Musk getting his way even if he meets again with Tim Cook.
