What you need to know
- Mark Zuckerberg has again hit out at Apple's App Store.
- He said that some of Apple's behavior "certainly raises questions."
- He also said it deserved scrutiny.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has told Axios on HBO that Apple's App Store raises questions and deserves scrutiny.
In an interview Zuckerberg said that Apple had "unilateral control of what gets on phones, in terms of apps" (presumable he means iPhones) in response to a question about whether Apple's App Store was a monopoly. From the report:
"I think it's probably about 50% of Americans who have smart phones, and a lot more people around the world. I think there are more than a billion Apple devices," Zuckerberg said in an interview with Axios' Mike Allen.
Pressed on whether the government should investigate Apple, Zuckerberg said he probably wasn't the right person to answer that question, but said "I think some of the behavior certainly raises questions. And I do think it's something that deserves scrutiny."
He further stated that he did think there were questions "that people should be looking into about that control of the App store and whether that is enabling as robust of a competitive dynamic."
The tone was much less provocative than at a recent Facebook company meeting, in which Zuckerberg reportedly stated that Apple has a "unique stranglehold" over its platform that helped block innovation and competition, and allowed it to charge "monopoly rents".
Whilst the story of the moment is Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple over the App Store, Facebook was recently chastised for including a text note in its app stating 30% of proceeds paid to businesses for a new online events service would go to Apple, information that Apple stated was "irrelevant."
Zuckerberg was one of a number of CEOs to testify to a House antitrust subcommittee earlier this year.
