Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, recently confirmed that the company pays Apple a significant chunk, 36 percent to be exact, of all the money it makes from ads. This revelation came out during Pichai’s testimony in a lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the creators of Unreal Engine and Fortnite.
In simple terms, Pichai explained that Google and Apple are strong competitors, and Google has spent a whopping $49 billion in 2022 just to get more people to use their services. When questioned about why Google doesn’t pay a similar amount to Samsung, its partner in making Android devices, Pichai couldn’t confirm the exact terms but suggested it’s a possibility.
The disclosure of the 36 percent figure happened during questioning by a professor, Kevin Murphy, who was answering questions from Alphabet Inc.’s lead attorney. When asked by an attorney from Epic Games about the actual dollar value Google pays to Apple, Pichai said it’s over $10 billion.
It’s worth noting that this information came to light during a time when the United States Department of Justice accused Google of using its money to stay on top in the search market. According to reports, Google paid Apple a whopping $18 billion in 2021 for this collaboration.
