“Some high-ranking Microsoft and Apple executives have been summoned to testify in the ongoing Department of Justice (DoJ) antitrust trial against Google. The US government has accused Google of abusing its search monopoly to stifle competition. During the trial, executives have shared intriguing insights into the relationships between these companies. Microsoft’s Vice President, Jonathan Tinter, recently informed the court that Microsoft attempted to seek assistance from South Korean smartphone giant Samsung in its competition against Apple and Google, but the efforts were largely unsuccessful.
According to reports from Bloomberg, Tinter stated that Microsoft made efforts to convince Samsung Electronics to adopt its Bing search engine as the default option on its smartphones. Tinter reportedly commented on Samsung’s stance, saying, ‘Even if the economics were superior in working with Microsoft, they would not move off Google.’
For years, Tinter attempted to persuade Samsung executives to at least consider allowing Microsoft to bid for the search default position on its phones, using Apple as an example. Essentially, Microsoft wanted Samsung to replace Google with Bing as the default search engine on its devices.
Tinter explained, ‘Even though we weren’t winning, we were helping Apple earn more money and costing Google more money.’ However, Samsung executives reportedly responded by saying, ‘Jon, it’s not worth it. We don’t want to pursue this path.’
In December 2019, Tinter sent an email to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, advising him to stop pressuring Samsung’s then-president, Dong-Jin Koh (known as DJ), to change the default search engine. The email allegedly stated, ‘I have received feedback from the Samsung team that DJ has clearly heard your desire to take action, but they don’t want to make a significant move due to their partnership with Google. However, DJ is too polite to refuse.'”
