Apple does not want to lose $20 billion and defends Google in its possible division

“Google can no longer adequately represent Apple’s interests: Google must now defend itself against a broad effort to break up its business units,” Apple said in a legal filing it filed with the Justice Department.

In the document, the company also noted that a new search option would harm consumers, who “overwhelmingly prefer Google’s product,” and that including Google’s tool without compensation would create “a perverse result to the market.”

According to Apple, allowing Google’s search engine to reach smartphones without paying money would give it an unfair advantage over other search engines due to its development and, therefore, this company should continue paying.

And the agreement between Google and Apple to keep its search engine as the default option in the Safari browser represents around 36% of its search advertising revenue in Safari, as revealed in the Epic Games vs Google trial.

In figures until 2022, this represented around 20 billion dollars, a figure that generated controversy, since Google paid Samsung less than half that same year, even though the South Korean company is Android’s main hardware partner.

What’s next for Google?

This case is not yet closed for Google. The sanctions phase is scheduled for April, when Apple also hopes to participate by calling its own witnesses to testify.

In addition, during this period, United States prosecutors will have to demonstrate that Google must take several measures in the search market, such as selling its web browser, Chrome, and even its operating system, Android.

The outcome of this antitrust investigation could end the revenue-sharing agreements that have made Google the default search engine for Safari, on the iPhone, as well as other devices, as well as reshaping the industry.