Elon Musk slams Apple’s Appstore policies in support of Epic Games- the creator of Fortnite

A new book written about Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the talk of the town as soon as it hit the stands. The book titled” Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century” by Tim Higgins claimed that Apple CEO Tim Cook abused Musk when he proposed the idea of becoming the CEO of Apple. However, Musk has come forward and denied the claims made by the book. Musk said that he has never met Tim Cook. Higgins wrote that Cook floated buying the then-struggling Tesla in a phone call ahead of the carmaker’s 2016 Model 3 launch, but Musk insisted on becoming Apple’s CEO as a condition of the sale, leading Cook to say “f*** you” and hang up on Musk. Apple is battling a lawsuit filed last year by Epic Games, alleging that the iPhone maker has abused its dominance in the market for mobile apps. Epic broke Apple’s rules when it introduced its own in-app payment system in “Fortnite” to circumvent Apple’s commissions. Apple, which has defended its App Store practices both in court and to lawmakers in hearings, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Elon Musk showed his support for “Fortnite” maker Epic Games that has challenged Apple Inc’s fees on its App Store. “Apple app store fees are a de facto global tax on the Internet. Epic is right,” he said in a tweet. In another comment, Musk emphasized his affinity for Apple products but claimed that it is still an overcharge on the company’s part. The tweet read, “Actually, I like & use Apple products. They are just obviously overcharging with App Store. 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.” Adding to his thoughts on the matter, the Tesla CEO said, “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.”