During the ongoing trial between Google and the US Justice Department, it has been revealed that Microsoft contemplated selling Bing Search to Apple.
The primary motivation behind this consideration was to make Bing Search the default search engine on iPhones, as Apple currently has a lucrative deal with Google for this purpose.
Microsoft executives reportedly held exploratory talks with Eddy Cue, Apple’s services head, but no deal was reached.
Apple’s existing deal with Google, which has been in place since 2002, is estimated to have earned Apple nearly $7 billion.
Apple was not keen on acquiring Bing due to its commitment to the Google deal and concerns about Bing’s quality compared to Google Search.
Improving Bing’s performance would have required significant investment, and it was uncertain whether it would be a worthwhile endeavor.
