Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s long-awaited paid subscription service Twitter Blue has reportedly been delayed once again, this time to avoid the 30 percent “Apple tax”.
Following Musk’s successful acquisition of Twitter, the $7.99-a-month Twitter Blue paid subscription service was introduced to the iPhone app earlier this month, allowing users to purchase a “Blue V” credential to prevent some users from impersonating well-known brands or celebrities.
But Twitter shut down the service a day later due to security concerns. Musk then said the service would be relaunched on November 29, but it was later delayed until December 2. The latest news shows that Twitter Blue will be delayed again, this time mainly to avoid the 30% share of the Apple App Store.
As we all know, Musk and Apple have been having a lot of trouble lately. On Monday, Musk took a shot at Apple through a series of tweets, expressing his dissatisfaction with Apple’s censorship, saying that Apple has not only cut the ads placed on Twitter but also threatened to remove Twitter from the app store.
Musk also complained about Apple’s 30 percent “Apple Tax”. One of Musk’s tweets included a picture of a car bearing his name (Musk) suddenly turning onto a freeway ramp pointing to “war” instead of continuing along the “pay 30%” direction.
But a few hours later, Musk deleted the tweet. Days earlier, Musk had also said he might consider developing a new phone to challenge the iPhone if Apple and Google moved Twitter out of the app store.
When Twitter eventually launches Twitter Blue, it may be different from what Musk originally envisioned. For example, it won’t be available on iOS as an in-app purchase (avoiding the 30 percent cut), it will require verification of users’ mobile numbers, and so on. Also, the subscription price will change directly from $7.99 to $8.
