Mark Zuckerberg says Apple has stranglehold on apps
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Mark Zuckerberg tells Facebook staff in all-hands meeting that Apple has ‘stranglehold’ on apps which allows it to ‘charge monopoly rents’ as it takes 30% profit off all purchases
- Facebook CEO’s remarks were made in video address to employees Thursday
- He accused Apple of App Store monopoly that allows it to gouge app makers
- Apple is currently battling maker of Fortnite over the same issue
- Both Apple and Facebook are currently under antitrust scrutiny
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that Apple has ‘stranglehold’ on apps which allows it to ‘charge monopoly rents’, according to a new report.
‘[Apple has] this unique stranglehold as a gatekeeper on what gets on phones,’ Zuckerberg said in a live video address on Thursday to more than 50,000 Facebook employees, according to Buzzfeed.
He added that Apple’s control over the App Store ‘blocks innovation, blocks competition’ and ‘allows Apple to charge monopoly rents.’
It is not the first time Apple has been accused of abusing its power in the App Store, where the iPhone maker demands a 30 percent cut of all in-app sales.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that Apple has ‘stranglehold’ on apps which allows it to ‘charge monopoly rents’
Zuckerberg’s tirade was apparently prompted by a question about Apple blocking gaming-related apps. Earlier this month, Apple banned the popular video game Fortnite after parent company Epic Games attempted to circumvent its rules about in-app payments.
‘That’s innovation that could really improve people’s lives,’ Zuckerberg said in the company meeting. ‘And Apple’s just balking at it.’
On Thursday, Facebook told Reuters that Apple had rejected its attempt to tell users the iPhone maker would take a 30 percent cut of sales in a new online events feature, forcing Facebook to remove the message to get the tool to users.
Facebook said that Apple cited an App Store rule that bars developers from showing ‘irrelevant’ information to users.
‘Now more than ever, we should have the option to help people understand where money they intend for small businesses actually goes,’ Facebook said in a statement.
‘Unfortunately Apple rejected our transparency notice around their 30 percent tax but we are still working to make that information available inside the app experience,’ the company added.
After Buzzfeed reported Zuckerberg’s remarks, Facebook released footage of a different portion of the meeting, in which the CEO discussed the teen recently charged with shooting three people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, killing two.
Both Apple and Facebook have recently faced antitrust scrutiny, with Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook being called to testify in Congress last month.
Facebook confirmed last week that Zuckerberg was interviewed at a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigative hearing as part of the government’s antitrust probe into the social media company.
‘We are committed to cooperating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have,’ the social media company said in a statement.
The FTC told Facebook in June 2019 it was probing whether the company has engaged in unlawful monopolistic practices.
Facebook faces similar probes by the Justice Department and by state attorneys general and has said the investigations are looking at prior acquisitions and business practices involving ‘social networking or social media services, digital advertising, and/or mobile or online applications.’
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