Zuckerberg Also Says "Apple Monopolizes Profits"... Expanding Anti-Apple Front

Musk Declares "It's War" Followed by Public Criticism from Spotify and Epic Games

Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has once again made remarks targeting Apple's app market monopoly structure. Zuckerberg has continuously expressed dissatisfaction with Apple's monopoly structure after suffering a significant blow to online advertising revenue due to changes in Apple's policies. Following Twitter's declaration of 'war against Apple,' the anti-Apple front is expanding to include Meta, Spotify, Epic Games, and others.

On the 30th (local time), Zuckerberg criticized Apple's unilateral control over the app ecosystem during a virtual speech at the 2022 DealBook Summit hosted by The New York Times (NYT). He pointed out, "It is problematic for one company to control which apps are installed on users' devices," criticizing Apple's app review policies. He added, "Most of the mobile ecosystem's revenue goes to Apple," and said he does not believe the app ecosystem controlled by Apple is "sustainable or a good place."

Zuckerberg has strongly criticized Apple's app market monopoly structure in the past as well. During the Q4 conference call last year, he publicly criticized, saying, "Apple gains a lot by obstructing other apps," and last month, he targeted Apple’s iMessage as being less secure than Meta's WhatsApp.

Behind Zuckerberg's criticism of Apple lies Apple's new privacy protection policy. Apple updated the iPhone operating system (iOS) so that apps like Facebook can only access user activity data with the user's consent, which dealt a huge blow to Facebook, whose revenue mostly comes from advertising.

Earlier, Elon Musk, who runs Twitter, declared war on Apple in response to Apple's suspension of Twitter ads. On the 28th, he called Apple's 30% commission fee imposed on developers in the App Store a tax and declared, "I am starting a war."

In apparent agreement with Musk's criticism, Zuckerberg highlighted Apple's closed App Store policy by citing Google's example, which allows sideloading (installing apps without going through the App Store), during the event. He also raised his voice, saying that Apple sets App Store and content-related policies targeting competitors, which constitutes a conflict of interest.

Spotify, currently suing Apple, also joined the attack line on the same day. Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, the world's largest music streaming service, posted on Twitter criticizing Apple's app commission issue, saying, "Apple suppresses innovation and harms consumers while enjoying all the benefits itself."

He emphasized, "Apple offers consumers the illusion of choice and developers the illusion of control," adding, "There has been much discussion about Apple's commission issue, and while that discussion is helpful, we need to take action."

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, a game developer that has long fought Apple over app commissions, also offered support, saying, "Fighting against Apple's monopoly is an American issue that transcends partisan politics."

Previously, Spotify filed antitrust lawsuits against Apple in several countries, arguing that Apple's 30% commission artificially increases costs, and Epic Games is also pursuing litigation on the same grounds.