Elon Musk Says Apple's 30% App Store Fee is 'Literally 10 Times Higher Than It Should Be'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk today took to Twitter to once again criticize Apple's App Store fees, calling the cut that Apple takes from developers "definitely not ok" and likening it to a "30% tax on the internet."

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He went on to say that the fee is "literally 10 times higher than it should be."

Apple takes a 30 percent cut from app developers who make over $1 million through the ‌App Store‌ on an annual basis, but for small developers who make less, Apple has cut its fees to 15 percent through the Small Business Developer Program.


Musk has criticized the Apple's ‌App Store‌ several times in the past. Back in July, for example, Musk called out Apple for creating a walled garden and said Tesla would never do such a thing. "I think we do want to emphasize that our goal is to support the advent of sustainable energy," Musk said at the time, responding to a question about letting competitors use the Tesla charger network. "It is not to create a walled garden and use that to bludgeon our competitors which is used by some companies."

Tesla and Apple have a long history and have clashed over employee theft as Apple pushes into the electric vehicle market. Back in 2015, Musk famously called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard." "If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple," he said.

Musk at the current time is in the process of purchasing Twitter for $44 billion. Musk has claimed that he wants to make Twitter "better than ever" with new product features that will defeat spam bots and authenticate all humans. Twitter is set to become a privately held company when the acquisition is complete.

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Top Rated Comments

BC2009 Avatar
40 months ago
Elon Musk's car prices are higher then they should be too. I think he should sell his cars for cost. LITERALLY.

Clearly, businesses should not be allowed to make profits on the goods and services they provide. Obviously it cost nothing to produce an SDK, host the App Store, support the customers.

But you know what really is infinitely more expensive than it should be? Tesla's Full Self Driving feature. Selling a non-existent feature for $10K (or is it $12K now?) should be criminal. At least the App Store existed before Apple tried to make money on it.
Score: 134 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SureWhyNot Avatar
40 months ago
So Tesla's will support CarPlay and Android Auto? You know, to remove any walled gardens?
Score: 111 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GizmoDVD Avatar
40 months ago
Go away, Musk.
Score: 97 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lusky Avatar
40 months ago
Musk: we would never create a walled garden.

Ok can we get apple car play in a Tesla?
Score: 78 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sampire51 Avatar
40 months ago
People that love him here for buying twitter will not know what to do now lol
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ponzicoinbro Avatar
40 months ago
He can’t stop lying and abusing.

It’s time to end billionaires and the power they abuse.

Nobody needs to have a billion dollars.

They should be forced to sell assets and pay taxes whenever they hit a $100 million wall.

Even $100 million is mad money and makes the ultra wealthy abusive, dishonest and very corrupt.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)