There is a “high” likelihood of Microsoft winning an iPhone search deal with Apple, according to a BusinessWeek report.
Citing a note from Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal, the report states that Aggarwal met with Microsoft executive on February 10, and although the employees present at the meeting “did not confirm or deny any chatters on the likelihood of Microsoft wining Apple search deal for iPhone,” the executives did say that “for right economics” Microsoft would very much like to win the contract to become the default Internet search engine on the iPhone.
BusinessWeek reported that the two companies were in negotiations over the possible deal earlier this year; a later report from Silicon Alley Insider indicated that Google may be paying Apple as much as $100 million per year to keep its place as the default search engine on the iPhone.
