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Apple Demands $9 Billion From Google For Default Search On iOS (neowin.net)
A new report from Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall suggests that Apple may be demanding $9 billion from Google to have its search engine as the default in Safari on iOS. This is a steep increase to last year's estimated $3 billion licensing costs and $1 billion licensing costs in 2014. Hall suggests that Apple may even increase the costs to $12 billion in 2019. Neowin reports: It's unclear if Google's supplanting Microsoft as the default search provider for Siri and Spotlight last year is responsible for the purported price hike from Apple, though it may, at least partially, explain the sudden jump. The other explanation could be that previous estimates of the value of the agreement between the two tech giants were undervalued, given that apart from the $1 billion figure from 2014, we don't really have any hard evidence pertaining to the actual sum of these payments. Hall does indicate that "Apple is one of the biggest channels of traffic acquisition for Google' and despite the high cost, it is quite likely that Google will agree to pay the increased sum."
Total iPhone units sold between 2007 and 2017 worldwide is 216.76 million. So not literally a billion; in fact, the article is specifically about iOS, so we can leave out macs. An iPhone will stay in use for about 5 years so let's assume that half of those 216 million devices is still using Safari and will get the search provider pushed. That's 9 billion for 100 million users, or USD 90 per IOS user. Assume I made a mistake and it would only amount to a third of that per user. I would still be worried if Google would pay my phone manufacturer that for providing me ads.
Total iPhones sold in fiscal year 2017 were 217 million. In February 2017, Apple had 1.3 billion active devices, so 7 USD/user.
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Sure, Apple crunched their numbers and they know that default search engine is worth more than $9 billion to Google. But if Apple is forced to go to Bing, or worse, implement its own search engine complete with data centers, it will instantly become the laughingstock of the entire internet. After all, crawling back to Microsoft after Bill Gates made Steve Jobs grovel on TV for a $200 million investment. It just doesn't get funnier than that.
If Apple doesn't offer Google by default, it will end up losing way more than $9 billion in sales from customer defections. Go ahead Google, you can easily afford the downside risk. Let Apple learn by doing.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Do you realize how dangerous it is to put ALL your information into Google's hands? All it takes is a simple "request for information" request by the government (U.S. or EU or China), and Google hands-over everything they know about you. Which you conveniently provided them.
I prefer to divide my usage across multiple companies, so no one place has my entire browsing history.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall