Apple leverages idea of switching to Bing to pry more money out of Google, Microsoft exec says

Analysts estimate that Apple collects US$15bil (about RM70.6bil) to US$20bil (RM94.1bil) a year in revenue-sharing payments from Google in return for giving its search engine the coveted default slot on Apple's devices. — Photo by Laurenz Heymann on Unsplash

WASHINGTON: Apple was never serious about replacing Google with Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine in Macs and iPhones, but kept the possibility open as a "bargaining chip'' to extract bigger payments from Google, a Microsoft executive testified Wednesday in the biggest US antitrust trial in a quarter century.

"It is no secret that Apple is making more money on Bing existing than Bing does,’’ Mikhail Parakhin, Microsoft’s chief of advertising and web services, said in US District Court in Washington. The comment drew a laugh from the courtroom. Parakhin was describing Microsoft’s years of futility trying to supplant Google on Apple devices.