Elon Musk blasted the Apple App Store’s commission policy, saying that the 30% commission “certainly does not work.” Musk was responding to a report about an EU complaint against Apple Pay by referring to the commission charged by the Apple App Store for in-app transactions, which he said was “like a 30 percent tax on the internet industry.”
Musk also added that the commission rate is “actually 10 times what it should be charged.” This suggests that Musk believes Apple should take 3% of App Store transactions, or 30 cents for every $10, only Slightly higher transaction fees than most credit cards. This is contrary to U.S. court rulings that have repeatedly allowed Apple to charge higher commissions.
This isn’t the first time Musk has blasted Apple. Back in July 2021, Musk made clear his support for the plaintiffs in Epic Games v. Apple. At the time, he also likened the Apple App Store’s practice of taking a commission on transactions to a “de facto global tax.”
In recent years, the commission policy of the Apple App Store has been under fire from all walks of life. Apple has criticized Apple from members of Congress to private companies such as Epic Games, which has sued Apple over its app store fees.
Currently, the 30% commission rate is the norm for most app platforms , including those dominated by companies like Google, Samsung, and Microsoft. Companies such as Meta, the parent company of Facebook, even take as much as 50% on certain transactions.
Google lowered the commission to 15% in October 2021. Apple, on the other hand, has implemented preferential policies for small and medium-sized enterprises, reducing the commission paid by those companies with less than 1 million annual transactions within the app to 15%.
In contrast, Musk’s Tesla platform is not open to third-party software developers. Neither Apple’s CarPlay nor Google’s Android Auto will work with Tesla EVs. In addition, Tesla charges used car owners an FSD fee that accompanies the purchase of the car.