Google may want to send some flowers – or at least a nice thank-you card – to the folks at Apple.
After all, wouldn’t you thank the entity responsible for 40% of your revenue?
According to a new report published Thursday, Google can thank Apple for a significant share of its mobile earnings this year.
Google’s licensing deals with Apple over its Maps and Search apps “have been a healthy cash cow since the iPhone debuted in 2007.”
From CNET:
In an investors note released yesterday, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he expects Google to generate around $4.5 billion in mobile revenue this year. And iOS will kick in the largest or close to the largest chunk of that.
All told, by the close of 2012, iOS will have driven close to 40 percent of Google’s total mobile search revenue. How much does that amount to? Roughly $1.6 billion.