Microsoft hasn’t gotten the response it needs from Apple, but it hasn’t been discouraged over the years. It has persistently tried to make its own search engine the default setting for Apple devices.
The monopoly lawsuit against the search engine giant Google that started last year in the United States has brought to light interesting details about the correspondence between Microsoft and Apple as well.
According to documents from the US Department of Justice, Microsoft has been trying to make its Bing search engine the default option on Apple devices for years. However, Apple has time and again continued its profitable cooperation with Google.
According to the papers, Microsoft has approached Apple about the issue at least in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020. In 2018, Microsoft even offered to sell Bing to Apple or alternatively to establish a joint venture with Apple around Bing.
However, Apple has not warmed to the plans of its arch-enemy. The documents also reveal the reason for the tight-lipped attitude. They show that the manager responsible for Apple’s services Eddy Cue has doubted the quality of Microsoft’s search engine and wondered how serious Microsoft is with its search engine business.
Google’s monopoly position?
Last year, it turned out that Google pays Apple up to 12 billion dollars, or more than 11 billion euros per year, for the company’s search engine to remain the default setting on Apple’s devices. Google pays Samsung a couple of billion dollars annually for a similar advantage.
According to Google, Microsoft’s efforts show that its search engine does not have a monopoly on the market. It has denied allegations of abuse of its market position.
Monopoly claims are based on Google’s superior market share of around 90 percent and the fact that competing search engine companies cannot afford to pay similar amounts for using their search engine.
According to the claims, Google wouldn’t have to pay Apple and its partners astronomical sums if its product were truly the best.
Source: CNBC