Apple CEO Tim Cook said while in Germany this week that “no reasonable person would ever call Apple a monopolist,” Business Insider reports.
Cook’s interview with the German magazine Stern, which was printed in German and translated by Business Insider, came shortly after 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said she wanted to break up major tech companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon. Facebook and Google already face federal and state investigations over their business practices and antitrust concerns.
A few months ago, the music-streaming company Spotify filed a complaint against the tech giant in the EU last March, alleging that since Apple operates its App Store while marketing its Apple Music streaming service, it is “both a player and referee.” Spotify also noted that the 30 percent tax that Apple places on purchases made with its payment system affects Spotify subscriptions.
Cook told Stern that Apple has only “30 to 40 apps compared to two million others,” and went on to compare the App Store to a supermarket, where the store’s products are sold alongside rival brands.
"The likelihood of [a supermarket] having own-brand products is very high. And who benefits from another product being on the shelf? The customer, and that's a good thing," he said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.