That at least is the conclusion of this interesting calculation done by the Guardian, that Google makes more in revenue from it's deal with Apple for iPhones than it does with it's own Android ecosystem.
They've exploited the income figures from a court case to make the calculation and their final numbers are:
Android generated less than $550m in revenues for Google between 2008 and the end of 2011, if figures provided by the search giant as part of a settlement offer with Oracle ahead of an expected patent and copyright infringement trial are an accurate guide.
The figures also suggest that Apple devices such as the iPhone, which use products such as its Maps as well as Google Search in its Safari browser, generated more than four times as much revenue for Google as its own handsets in the same period.
Handset makers don't pay to get access to Android, of course. But in order to get certified they have to include the usual suite of Google products, search, Maps, YouTube and so on. Looking at the damages Google is offering Oracle to settle a possible patent infringement case allows one to calculate up what the total revenues from those services (ie, the ad revenue that their inclusion on phones brought to Google) have been. So that's one number.
Google doesn't report separate Android numbers and wouldn't comment upon this calculation. However, it does release numbers for mobile revenues. And mobile numbers will include not just Android but also the similar deal that Google has with Apple to provide search, Maps and so on. Subtract one number from the other and you can see what Google is making from Apple's iPod, iPhone and so on. And the calculation turns out as above, Google make four times more from its relationship with Apple than it does from Android.
That's all very interesting but of course the important question is what's going to happen in the future. My guess is that Android will be a much more widely installed OS than iOS and thus I would guess that Android revenues for Google will overtake Apple ones. But then as the man said, prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.
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