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Android’s growing popularity has spurred Apple to rid their iPhones from anything Google. It started with YouTube getting the chop as of iOS 6, but Apple’s reluctance to support its rival in any way or form was best seen in September of last year. In a gradual move away from Google, Apple replaced the wondrously detailed Google maps with their own malnourished offering, choosing to rob the iPhone of a quality feature out of sheer pride and forcing their CEO to apologise. It might not seem like it, but there are signs of Google still present on iPhones—Apple’s Safari defaults to Google’s search. In 2009, Google paid Apple $82 million to have iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to default to their search engine. But in 2014, the analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate Google will be paying Apple a cool $1 Billion. That’s a rise of 1,220%. The bump in Apple’s pay grade isn’t contingent on their pride. Instead the good folks at GSMArena claim the increase is proportionate to the rise in Apple iOS users.
In 2009, Google would pay Apple $2 per iOS device. After a gradual rise, they’ll be paying $4 per iOS device by 2017 with the total mounting $2 billion the year following. The numbers indicate Apple gets a $0.75 cut of every dollar Google earns. |
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Apple and Safari aside, Google is also hitting up Mozilla’s Firefox browser with a $400 million keep-Google-default payment. Then there’s their own Android software which naturally spruiks all things Google. Android and Apple account for 92% of the smartphone market, according to Strategy analytics, giving Google a firm foot in remaining the cornerstone in search. The only unturned stone in the big-browser market is Yahoo and social-site Facebook, but the hand of Microsoft’s Bing is in that cookie jar. |
