He renewed in time, it was Apple that made the mistake.
"Three days later I was able to get a response from Apple that verified this was, indeed, a problem with their internal software and that there was nothing I could do about it." Quoth the article.
Maybe not.
In the comments someone mentions a similar situation that resolved when his original account expired.
I have apps on the iOS store as well (just like many of you) so I am aware of the emails you get from Apple telling you that your Apple developer account is going to expire. I have never heard of another developer having a problem with renewing their credentials. If there was an actual bug, I don't doubt more developers would be affected.
Honestly, I bet he forgot to renew, his apps got pulled, and now he's scrambling to cover his losses.