iOS Brings In 40% Of Google's Mobile Profits

Google has good reason for being concerned over the possibility of Apple switching to its own mapping service, according to numbers presented by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. The licensing deal with Apple over Google's Maps and Search apps reportedly brings in 40 percent of Google's mobile profits.

Apple has been offering Google Maps as the default mapping service on the iPhone since the device first debuted back in 2007. Each year the deal has brought in a large chunk of revenue for Google with this year being no different. Munster expects Google to generate $4.5 billion in mobile revenue this year, with iOS bringing in $1.6 billion or about 2 percent of Google's total sales for the year.

Hence, rumors of Apple's plans to announce its own in-house mapping service at WWDC next week, has many calling Google's "Next Dimension" mapping press event yesterday a seemingly desperate move.

However, Munster doesn't expect there to be any big changes to the iOS experience regardless of what Apple announces next week. Google Maps has already attracted more than 1 billion users worldwide and will still be available in the App Store even if it's no longer the iOS default.

[via CNET]