Zuckerberg said Apple's 'stranglehold' on app store blocks innovation: report
Facebook has criticized Apple multiple times in recent weeks
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ramped up his war against Apple during a meeting with employees Thursday, saying that its App Store “blocks innovation” and allows the company to “charge monopoly rents,” according to a report in Buzzfeed.
Zuckerberg’s accusation of monopolistic practices comes as both tech giants are under scrutiny for alleged antitrust behavior. Lawmakers grilled Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook in a hearing last month about these issues.
Buzzfeed reports that Zuckerberg told 50,000 employees in a webcast that Apple has a “unique stranglehold as a gatekeeper on what gets on phones.”
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Facebook declined to comment on Thursday’s meeting.
Zuckerberg’s comments came the same day that Apple rejected Facebook’s attempt to tell customers about App Store fees. Reuters reported Thursday that Facebook wanted to break down to users how Apple gets a 30% cut of all sales in a new online events feature, but Apple rejected it on the basis that the info was “not relevant” to the app.
“Now more than ever, we should have the option to help people understand where money they intend for small businesses actually goes,” a Facebook spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement. “Unfortunately Apple rejected our transparency notice around their 30% tax but we are still working to make that information available inside the app experience.”
Earlier this month, Facebook also had a disagreement with Apple about its newly launched standalone gaming app.
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Facebook says that the Facebook Gaming app, which is mainly used to watch people stream video games, was rejected by Apple for months due to actual games that Facebook wanted to include.
“Gaming brings people together. And that’s even more important today amidst the pandemic. Unfortunately, we had to remove gameplay functionality entirely in order to get Apple’s approval on the standalone Facebook Gaming app – meaning iOS users have an inferior experience to those using Android," Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a statement obtained by FOX Business. "We’re staying focused on building communities for the more than 380 million people who play games on Facebook every month – whether Apple allows it in a standalone app or not.”
Apple, which became the first U.S. company to reach a $2 trillion market capitalization earlier this month, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.