San Francisco Aug 15 (IANS) Google will pay Apple nearly $3 billion this year to remain as the default search engine on iOS devices US-based research and brokerage firm Bernstein has said.
According to a note to investors on Monday Google has increased the amount this year -- from $1 billion three years ago to $3 billion this year -- and Google s licensing fees make up a large bulk of Apple s services business.
"Court documents indicate that Google paid Apple $1B in 2014 and we estimate that total Google payments to Apple in FY 17 may approach $3B " CNBC quoted analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. as saying.
"Given that Google payments are nearly all profit for Apple Google alone may account for five per cent of Apple s total operating profits this year and may account for 25 per cent of total company OP growth over the last two years " he added.
Apple s iOS devices contribute about 50 per cent to Google s mobile search revenue Sacconaghi noted.
--IANS
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