Google is expected to pay Apple about $3 billion this year just to keep their search engine as the default on iPhones and iPads: that’s actually $1 billion more than what was paid three years ago. It seems unlikely that Google will walk away from this arrangement, being that iOS devices contribute about 50 percent to the company’s mobile search revenue.



“Court documents indicate that Google paid Apple $1B in 2014, and we estimate that total Google payments to Apple in FY 17 may approach $3B,” Bernstein analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. said. “Given that Google payments are nearly all profit for Apple, Google alone may account for 5% of Apple’s total operating profits this year, and may account for 25% of total company OP growth over the last two years.”

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Google Is Paying Apple Billions per Year to Remain on the iPhone