liewtc60
2023-09-12

Google Antitrust Case: Why Apple Will Be Part Of The Courtroom Drama

Google parent Alphabet has a lot at stake in the Department of Justice's non-jury antitrust trial, which starts Tuesday. While there's risk for GOOGL stock in the outcome, Apple will be part of the courtroom drama as well.

The trial is expected to take 10 weeks and last until mid-November. The case will be decided by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. He could order a Google breakup or changes to the way Google promotes its search engine.

That includes Google's contract with Apple, which makes Google the default search engine on its Safari web browser.

Morgan Stanley estimated that Google paid Apple $15 billion to $20 billion in traffic acquisition costs in 2022 under the search engine deal.

For investors, "the key question is whether a final ruling could result in changes to Google's search contracts with hardware OEMs (Apple, Samsung), wireless carriers and web browser companies," analyst Brian Nowak said.

The Department of Justice sued Google in 2020. The case has taken nearly three years to come to trial. Depending on the trial's outcome, Microsoft's Bing search engine could get a boost.

Google has weathered Microsoft's upgrade to Bing using ChatGPT generative artificial intelligence technology.

GOOGL stock has soared 54% in 2023. MSFT stock has gained 39%. AAPL is up 37%.

Google handles about 90% of search engine queries worldwide.

The DOJ alleges that Google maintains a monopoly "through exclusionary distribution agreements that steer billions of search queries to Google each day."

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

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