Mark Zuckerberg fires major shots at Apple during company meeting

By Stephen Warwick
published

Mark Zuckerberg in front of the Facebook logo
Mark Zuckerberg in front of the Facebook logo (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Mark Zuckerberg has fired shots at Apple.
  • He says Apple has a unique stranglehold over its platforms.
  • This allows it to block innovation and competition and charge "monopoly rents."

Mark Zuckerberg has told Facebook employees that Apple has a "unique stranglehold" over its platforms that allow it to block innovation and competition, and charge "monopoly rents."

According to BuzzFeed:

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a swing at Apple on Thursday, calling the iPhone maker's app store monopolistic and harmful to customers during a companywide meeting."[Apple has] this unique stranglehold as a gatekeeper on what gets on phones," Zuckerberg said to more than 50,000 employees via webcast. He added that the Cupertino, California–based company's app store "blocks innovation, blocks competition" and "allows Apple to charge monopoly rents."

Zuckerberg was answering a question related to Apple blocking Facebook's gaming app. which Facebook eventually had to release without any games on it in order to satisfy App Store rules.

Facebook ran afoul of Apple earlier this week, after it included a message in its app notifying users that Apple would take a 30% cut of all sales for a new business events feature, which allowed users to sell tickets to online events through the social media platform.

The news is of course more prevalent because of Apple's ongoing spat with Epic Games over its App Store, of which Apple's 30% cut is considered to be a particularly egregious assault on developers.

Just yesterday, Apple terminated the Epic Games developer account which it used to distribute Fortnite on iOS after Epic violated its App Store agreement. In a statement, Apple said it was "disappointed" that it had to terminate the Epic Games account, and that the company had refused to follow guidelines to rectify the situation.

Stephen Warwick
Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9

2 Comments
  • I am not using the Facebook app on my iPhone. I don’t need to. I can use the Facebook website and Apple doesn’t earn a dime. Where is Mr. Zuckerberg’s support for us mobile website users?
  • Another fool who does not understand what the word "monopoly" means. You CAN'T be a "monopoly" when you have 25% of a market. Period. Even the 55% that Apple has in the U.S. is STILL - by definition - not a monopoly. Company A with 55% and company B with 45% is a thriving competition. Not a "monopoly". The fact that Google charges the EXACT same fees as Apple, again proves that Apple is not acting as a "monopoly".