[animex]

They have a lock on mobile devices for the western world. They can by default pry away search revenue from Google at a large scale. They have the cash reserves to see this done properly. They'd be crazy not to come onto Google turf. Their hardware lines are sagging revenue growth wise. Service revenue is their biggest growth area. I have no idea why they didn't do this before.

[wheels]

> They have a lock on mobile devices for the western world.

They don't though. There are only a couple countries where they're more popular than Android, and only barely there. There's no country where they have 60% market share.

https://deviceatlas.com/blog/android-v-ios-market-share

[krrrh]

Or just like Iran's nuclear program, they can extract more concessions if they are permanently 1-2 years away from deploying a search engine. Google's spot as the default search in Safari already earns Apple billions per year.

[Yetanfou]

It might look like that for people inside the walled garden but I suggest applying for an exit visa to have a look around the great wide world out there where you'll quickly find out that it is a whole lot more diverse than the picture painted inside the walls. Not only is it more diverse, those rumours spread about the constant onslaught of viruses on those poor creatures on the other side of that big, safe wall turn out to be untrue, most people seem to never have even seen one. Even stranger things will start to become clear, like those supposedly poor and oppressed outsiders needing far less money to get around the world than those inside the walls while at the same time having are larger choice of methods to navigate it. It wouldn't surprise me if you decided to stay, just don't forget to plan this carefully so your identity does not get stuck on the inside after which you won't be able to message your friends any more. It is a bit tricky but it is doable, many others have gone that way before.

[scarface74]

Google pays Apple a reported $8 billion a year to be the primary search engine on iOS.

Apple’s hardware sells were also up slightly in every category year over year.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/07/30/apple-q3-2020-earnings/

[tonyedgecombe]

Presumably Google are making quite a bit more on that traffic. Apple might just be eyeing those additional profits.

[scarface74]

Through advertising? How would that be any better than what we have now.

[tonyedgecombe]

It might not, I'm just trying to think of their motives.