This is some seriously big news. TechCrunch reported yesterday that according to their sources, Bing might replace Google as the default search engine in the upcoming iPhone OS 4.
To most people, this news won’t mean much and some of you might even think it’s not a big deal. But it is. It is a huge deal because it’s just one more fight between Apple and Google in the great battle to take over the mobile market.
Back in December I wrote an article (one of the first on the topic, mind you) titled “Apple Vs Google: the war is on” in which I was kinda predicting that things were going to turn bad between the 2 giants. Then a bit later, rumors started going around that Apple and Microsoft might actually join forces to fight the oh-so-evil Google.
Today it seems that these rumors are resurfacing, and as anti-Google advocate, I’m hoping these rumors come true.
Google is rumored to be paying $100M/year to Apple for being the default search engine. My guess is that Microsoft offered at least the same amount. At any rates, I don’t think Apple is in it for the money here ; after all, $100M is peanuts for Apple.
They’re just realizing that the iPhone is powered by too many Google services (maps, YouTube, search), and if they want to fight Google on the mobile market, they have to fight them everywhere, which means getting rid of as many Google services.
While a Microsoft/Apple partnership would have sounded completely crazy a few years ago, it seems to make more and more sense today. Microsoft is not going to win the mobile battle (heck, they’re already losing it) and they know it. They also know they have to partner with someone strong in the mobile market if they want to be relevant in search. Good move from Microsoft if indeed this rumor is true.
In the meanwhile, Apple surpasses Microsoft as the largest tech company in the world. It’s crazy to see how quickly things can move.
What do you think?