Mark Zuckerberg has joined the Apple-bashing party.
Just hours after Spotify Technology Inc.
SPOT,
Chief Executive Daniel Ek went off on Twitter, charging that Apple “gives itself every advantage while at the same time stifling innovation and hurting consumers,” it was Zuck’s turn.
“Apple has sort of singled themselves out as the only company that is trying to control, like unilaterally, what apps get on a device,” the Meta Platforms Inc.
META,
CEO said at the New York Times Dealbook Summit in New York on Wednesday. “I don’t think that’s a sustainable or good place to be.”
“It is problematic for one company to control what kind of app experiences get onto a device,” Zuckerberg added.
Apple’s
AAPL,
considerable sway over the app market through its App Store has prompted vitriolic remarks this week from Ek, Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk, Epic Games Inc. CEO Tim Sweeney and others for its onerous commission fees (up to 30%) and in-store payment system.
Earlier in the day, Ek — who has pleaded for Congress to vote on antitrust legislation after years of hearings excoriating Big Tech — tweeted: “So how much longer will we look away from this threat to the future of the internet? How many more consumers will be denied choice? There’s been a lot of talk. Talk is helpful but we need action.”
Read more: Spotify CEO joins Elon Musk in calling out Apple for ‘shameless … bullying’
Musk, who got in his digs for many of the same reasons, suggested in a meme this week he was willing to “go to war” rather than pay Apple’s fees. But by Wednesday, Musk was on Twitter to post a video of a short scene from Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., campus with a conciliatory message, thanking Apple CEO Tim Cook for showing him around.
Read more: Elon Musk thanks Apple CEO Tim Cook for campus tour, suggesting possible détente
Apple has remained quiet about the sniping comments.
