Amidst Apple Inc.'s AAPL App Store rules controversy, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has accused the iPhone maker of favoring Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN.
What Happened: On Tuesday, an account on X, formerly Twitter, said that they got the "ad-free" subscription for Prime Video within the iOS application and made the payment directly to Amazon using their credit card.
"I didn’t see an option to pay with the App Store’s in-app purchase, neither did I see a ‘scare screen.'Digital content? Yes. Can other apps do this?"
In response, Sweeney took a swipe at Cupertino saying that Apple has apparently waived the requirement of using their in-app purchase system for digital goods.
"To determine whether you, as an independent developer, are eligible to benefit from this rule change, just check your company name. If it's "Amazon", you're eligible!," he added.
The conversation also caught the eye of Elon Musk, who has previously criticized App Store guidelines, and asked, "What's up with this?"
This comes after Apple's proposal in compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act has received backlash from Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft, Spotify, and Epic Games.
Sweeney has previously accused the Tim Cook-led company of non-compliance with court orders related to alternative payment options for apps and games on iOS.
Benzinga has reached out to Apple and Amazon for comment, but as of publication, no response has been received.
Why It's Important: This isn't the first time Apple has been accused of favoring Amazon over other companies.
In July 2020, it was reported that the tech giant provided a 50% reduced commission rate on subscription revenues generated from Amazon’s streaming video-on-demand app compared to the rates it imposes on other third-party developers.
This came after the House Antitrust Subcommittee at the time revealed a communication exchange dated 2016 between Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
The following year, it was reported that Apple decided to waive its usual App Store commission, allowing services such as Netflix and Spotify to handle payments independently of its platform.
It was reported that the decision to permit music, video, and other media applications to include an in-app link came from the changes Cupertino was making to close an investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission.
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