Google pays Apple more than most companies make in a year for its prime iPhone slot

It’s no secret that the iPhone is a valuable device, not just to Apple but also to many of its biggest competitors. According to unsealed court documents revealed in the antitrust trial between the Justice Department and Google, we now know exactly how valuable.

As reported by Bloomberg, Apple’s senior vice president of services Eddy Cue admitted that the deal with Google to be the default search engine in the Safari browser netter Apple $20 billion in 2022, a staggering increase of over the roughly $15 billion in 2021. Figures for last year weren’t disclosed in the trial but they’re likely higher than $20 billion.

It was also revealed in documents and testimony that Microsoft tried to usurp Google’s position by offering a staggering 90 percent of its advertising revenue with Apple to make Bing the default in Safari as well as other concessions including “hiding the Bing brand.” Microsoft CEO said default status on Safari is a “game-changing” position.

But the deal is also lucrative to Apple. The document claims that Google’s payments to Apple for default search accounted for nearly 20 percent of Apple’s operating income in 2020 when payments were likely about half of what they are now.

The government is expected to wrap up its case against Google with closing arguments this week and a decision in the case will likely arrive later this year.