Elon Musk's unilateral capitulation after declaring war on Apple

A good starting point is to not alienate businesses that buy the most ads if you run a large media business, which makes up to 90% of its profits from advertisements.On the other hand, Elon Musk used his first few days as CEO of Twitter Inc. to spread conspiracy theories, joke about an antisemitic rapper, and otherwise do everything possible to make the app unattractive to advertisers, as predicted by our experts.Musk then threatened to sue his fanboys on them, by name and shame as a result of a thermonuclear explosion.He said that advertisers who no longer invest money on Twitter, including Pfizer, General Motors, and United Airlines, were bowing to skeptics who are attempting to destabilize free expression in the United States, and that he even insulted the CEOs of major advertisers in order to denigrate them, which resulted in some companies reducing their spending.

Musk's war against Apple Inc. began on Nov. 28, when he said that Apple, which has been his company's largest advertiser, had mostly stopped advertising on Twitter, and asked, Do they hate free expression in America?According to Pathmatics data, the company hasn't stated why, but headlines such as Elon brings one of America's most prominent Nazis back to Twitter.Musk warned Apple CEO Tim Cook of its greatest risk by raising what he seemed to think of as Apple's greatest weakness: the App Store's regulatory scrutiny.Musk said that Apple had threatened to delete Twitter from the website, and that Apple had dumped a 30 percent tax on everything you buy, without providing any details.

Musk supported his argument by posting a parody video made by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, who sued Apple in 2020 over the in-app purchase scheme, and tweeting a meme claiming that he knew going to war with Apple was reckless and was prepared to do it anyway.For a day or two, it seemed that Apple had fallen into something serious.Musk fanboys fantasized about the absurdity of their alpha lord making his own iPhone competitor, while right-wing politicians made outraged remarks, and Tucker Carlson Tucker Carlsoned.Mr. Musk set the tone for a power struggle, according to the New York Times, warning that Musk's increasing clout among Republicans could cause Apple more trouble.

He then scampered to something like flattery, posting a serene video of Apples lovely headquarters and congratulating Cook for a tour and a productive chat.Musk attributed the whole thing to a mistake.There was no mention of Apple's fee or the alleged advertising reversal.Musk later claimed that Apple had completely reopened advertisement.Apple spent around $235,000 over the seven days ending on Nov. 28, the same amount as Musk declared war, according to Pathmatics.

Apple isn't just a company that controls Twitter's current market, but it also controls the company's future, a hastily conceived plan to charge users $8 a month for a blue verification badge similar to those on celebrities' accounts, journalists, and politicians, and any attempt by Musk to bypass the Apple scheme, such as by putting a link to redirect Twitter users from the Twitter app to the web, could result in the company being suspended.Musk is now faced with the same arbitrary decision as he always had: either accept about $5.60 per month from his account or raise prices within the iPhone app so there is $8 left over after taxes.As my colleague Mark Gurman explained, he could pull a Netflix and attempt to sign up subscribers through Twitters website, which would likely result in fewer subscriptions.Musk may choose to defy Apple, as Epic attempted to do, but the Epic lawsuit was dismissed by Apple and Fortnite is now available on the App Store.Another source of leverage for him is the ability to convince right-wing politicians to follow his example.

Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is opposed to antitrust legislation introduced earlier this year that seeks to enshrine large tech businesses.(The bills are yet to be accepted in the Senate, and it isn't clear that Democrats have received enough support.)Jordan is more focused on reining in Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, who Jordan announced after a recent meeting with Cook that the App Store dispute had been settled.He then pounced on Apple's presence in China, promising to get to the bottom of how Beijing can exert control over large American companies.

Of course, Apple's ability to push around a vituperative billionaire is indicative of the company's larger reach in technology.Coinbase Global Inc. announced that Apple had blocked its new app launch in response to a feature that Apple claimed violated the 30% fee system, but that it had no other options than to pull the feature and scream about it on Twitter.Apple held all the cards: The iPhone operating system of Apple works on most US smartphones, the company makes the bulk of global smartphone revenues, and there seems to be no organized body in the country to undermine that power by regulation.If you want to get to those lucrative iPhone users, you must follow Cooks' rules.