Search deal: Apple warns of the possible loss of Google Milliarden

Apple has warned against analysts that the many billions of US dollars that the iPhone Group currently receives from Google for integration as a main search engine in Safari in the future. The new CFO Kevan Parekh said on the sidelines of the conference call on the latest Apple quarterly figures at the end of last week that Apple’s quarterly forecast only applies if “the current sales participation agreement with Google” is continued.

Fear for the service business

Parekh indicated by the fact that the deal could end in the current quarter-and thus deals with the current procedure of the US Ministry of Justice against Google, which Apple could bring in the “irreparable damage” procedure. According to the current status, the group is expected to receive $ 20 billion for Google placement in Safari (not only on the iPhone, but also on Mac and iPad). Apple had recently announced that, due to the increasing use of AI search engines, fewer Google queries were seen. However, Google sees it very differently.

In his information to the analysts, Parekh said that as part of the prospects for the current quarter, no changes were included in the customs regime, just as no negative changes in the macroeconomic conditions. As mentioned, it is also assumed that the deal with Google is preserved. The question now is what would happen if this is not the case – Apple’s employee business, which recently recovered a record result ($ 27.4 billion) would break in significantly.

Alternative: AI search instead of Google

Apple itself is looking for alternatives internally and externally. So there should be a project to set up your own “answer machine”, but also discussions with the AI search provider Perplexity. Apple can also imagine taking a lot of money for buying a AI company.

However, all of these measures are unlikely to ensure that the Google money is even approximately and, above all, quickly compensated for. As early as August 2024, a US federal judge decided that the contract between Google and Apple will break US cartel law. So far, however, it has not yet been determined what that means. Google should also react immediately with an appeal. Apple boss Tim Cook said during the analyst discussion that he did not want to speculate about how the judgment would be and what Apple would do as a consequence.