Watching a rumor turn into something a touch more solid always requires reading between the lines. But when an analyst runs their mouth after spending a day with a company, little inference can sometimes be necessary.
We have more confirmation that a search deal between Bing and Apple for the iPhone might be not just under discussion, but quite likely. Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal had this to say on the potential deal just today:
Likelihood of Microsoft winning Apple search deal for iPhone is high. Though Microsoft did not confirm or deny any chatters on the likelihood of Microsoft wining Apple search deal for iPhone, Mr. Apter told us that for right economics Microsoft would like to win the Apple search deal. We note that a Bing launching a search App for iPhone sometime ago. In our view, Apple search deal can be strategically very significant win for Microsoft not only because of Google and Apple’s history of working together but also because Microsoft has been lagging behind in terms of making in roads on fast growing mobile Internet market
We said it before, if Bing does win this deal, it will capture enough market share to make it a serious competitor in the second largest component of search, mobile. Of course, Bing still needs to eek out more percentage points in the desktop world, but this would be a big coup against Google.
An odd world where Google, Apple, and Microsoft use each other to hurt each other. It’s like watching a very wealthy, and very dysfunctional family attempt to go on holiday together.
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