The relationship between Twitter and Apple has been strained, as evidenced by the posts that the new owner of Twitter has been making on his social media platform lately.

Apple has in fact stopped buying ads on Twitter and is even threatening to remove the social media app from the App Store. In response, Elon Musk threatens to create his own smartphone that can compete with the iPhone.

Twitter, Apple: What is happening?

In one of his posts, Musk notes that Apple has virtually stopped buying ads on Twitter and added: "Do they hate free speech in America?”

This post by Musk caused quite a reaction. Many users agreed with him, some pointed out the fact that he made his post on an iPhone, while others urged him to create his own smartphone that will replace the iPhone. Some have even started sharing their concepts of the future TeslaPhone (they used the name of Musk's Tesla company in the name - ed.).

In the next tweet, Musk asked:

"What's going on here [Apple CEO Tim Cook]?”

In another tweet, the billionaire stated that Apple, without explanation, threatened to remove the Twitter app from the App Store. He also wrote that Apple takes a 30% commission from all App Store purchases.

Musk seems to be attributing the problems with Apple to freedom of speech, which he believes came to Twitter when he bought it.

"The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself. The public deserves to know what really happened," Musk wrote.

He later added that this is a fight for the future of civilization; and if freedom of speech disappears even in America, then we will face a dictatorship in the future.

Musk also reposted a humorous Epic Games video insinuating that Apple has a monopoly on the App Store. He also made several critical posts about Apple, and published a question about whether Apple should publicize all the steps it has taken that are related to censorship and affect customers.

Apple has not yet commented on Musk's words. However, it should be noted that when Musk bought Twitter and reinstated former US President Donald Trump's Twitter account, App Store CEO Phil Schiller deleted his Twitter account.

TeslaPhone?

If Apple and Google decide to remove the Twitter app from their stores, Elon Musk could build his own smartphone. He said this in response to the question of famous American commentator Liz Wheeler, who said that given Musk's track-record, it will be easy for him to create his own smartphone if Apple and Google decide to take such a step.

“Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?” Wheeler asked.

"I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone," Musk responded.

Judging by the comments made under his posts on Twitter, many users are really ready to buy a TeslaPhone instead of an iPhone.

The problem isn't just with Apple; many advertisers are leaving Twitter

Twitter has recently had difficulties not only with Apple, but also with some other advertisers, and as a result, the social media’s advertising business, which brings in an annual income of $5 billion, is starting to suffer. General Motors, Volkswagen, Carlsberg, and some other companies have stopped their advertising campaigns on Twitter.

According to Media Matters, the brands and agencies that have suspended their advertising campaigns spent about $2 billion on Twitter advertising in 2020-2022. Now Twitter will not receive that money from them.

Financial Times experts are sure that Elon Musk's unpredictable behavior and conflicts with advertisers are to blame for everything. According to the magazine, nearly all major brands have halted ad spending on Twitter because of Musk's unconventional approach to content and his decision to fire many of the advertising team. According to them, due to the significant downsizing of Twitter's advertising department, many agencies have lost their contact persons within the company. As a result, some advertisers are unable to get a report on previous ad campaigns, while others complain that Twitter's ad tools have started to malfunction, making it difficult or impossible to run ad campaigns. All this quite predictably repels advertisers.

However, as Financial Times experts note, the main reason for the suspension of advertising campaigns on Twitter is not technical problems, or even the lack of people with whom advertisers are used to working, but Musk himself. According to the newspaper, Musk personally called the management of some brands and "rebuke" them, after which, in order to avoid further confrontations, many advertisers began to reduce their advertising budgets on Twitter.