There are much more than $ 20,000 million in play. It is no longer the annual agreement that Google maintains with Apple so that its search engine is by default in Safari and the iPhone. Google’s business model is at stake. The proof of this is that alphabet actions have dropped by more than 8%, losing more than $ 150,000 million, just when Eddy Cue has published the bomb: Apple plans to break its agreement with Google.
Google research is no longer what it was. In a complete antitrust judgment, Apple’s vice-president explained that “for the first time in 22 years”, Apple observed a decrease in the research of safari, an effect produced by forecast by the rise in research with artificial intelligence.
From Google, they quickly went to deny this data. In a press release, Google maintains that “we continue to observe general growth in research consultations. This includes an increase in total consultations of Apple devices and platforms”.
Why the agreement between Google and Apple oscillates. A priori the agreement benefits the two large companies. That Google is the Safari default search engine, having a 57% share in the United States, a huge range reports to Google. On the other hand, as confirmed by Pichai, CEO of Google, the agreement with Apple assumes that Google pays 36% of safari income.
This mutual advantage is what has justified that the agreement remains during all these years. But this 2025 may be its last year. Because? Mainly because it is considered abusive for competition and the eradication of this agreement is one of the main measures proposed in Google's antimonopole test.
Pandora's box has opened its doors. According to Bloomberg, Apple wants to move forward and already works on the possibility that Google is not the Safari search engine. In fact, Cue explained during the trial, they would envisage that Optai or perplexity are the research options of safari.
For the first time in their existence, Google alternatives are presented as a real option. In January 2025, for the first time in a decade, the market share of the Google search engine increased by 90%. And this is considered a great success by his rivals.
It is Google's scope in the field of research. An absolute domain whose rivals were far from reaching their level. But no more now. Pandora's box has opened its doors. Finally, the day came when the Google alternatives offer enough potential to be a real alternative. For the first time, Apple considers a viable option to leave Google.
Google's market share in mobile research continues to exceed 90%. Openai or Perplexity do not appear in the photo, but the foundations are already trembling.
After Apple, Samsung and the rest can come. Once this possibility is open, the rest of the parts can fall quickly. Google has a multimillionaire agreement with Apple, but also has it with other major technological companies.
In the Android world, this is the case for Samsung. As we knew in 2023, Google paid $ 8,000 million in Samsung to include the Play Store, the Google assistant and the default search engine in Galaxy Mobiles. If Apple decided or had been forced to break the agreement, other manufacturers could take behind.
It's not just research, also Gemini. Pandora's box refers to research, but there is much more at stake. The agreements between Google and manufacturers are not only to include Google as a default search engine. In recent months, we know that Google also pays manufacturers for the use of Gemini. This is the case of Samsung, which Bloomberg has reported, maintains an agreement for the Gemini to come by default in the Samsung galaxy.
But it doesn't stop there. Apple perhaps envisages Google in research, but Google’s new goal goes through Gemini. And this is where a new type of agreement can enter. In addition to Samsung, as Pichai suggested that the integration of Gemini into the iPhone and Apple Intelligence can be the big surprise of the year.
The “legal emptiness”: Google is dominant in research, but not in AI. Google wants to repeat the game. The new chords no longer target the search engine, but to promote Gemini. Although before paid why Apple, Samsung and the rest of the Android use Google manufacturers, now pay because they use Gemini. It is the same strategy, but to think of a future where the business path marks.
What is the difference? Why does the antitrust trial block the alliance with research and does not prohibit these new agreements? It is still early to determine it, but it is based on a different situation. Although Google is dominant in research with a market share of more than 90%, artificial intelligence, Google does not have the monopoly, because alternatives such as Openai or Perplexity Chatgpt compete with you.
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