Microsoft considered Apple investment in 2016 to gain Bing share, exec says
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A Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) executive said on Thursday that the Redmond, Washington-based company considered investing in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in 2016 in an effort to make its Bing search engine the default browser on Apple's Safari web browser.
Jon Tinter, a Microsoft business development vice president, said at the antitrust case against Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) on Thursday that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Apple CEO Tim Cook met as part of the discussions. Tinter added that Microsoft (MSFT) would have taken a loss on the investment, but it would have made Bing more relevant via more market share and revenue.
Safari's default search engine is Google, but it also offers choices such as Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia that consumers can change.
Earlier this week, Apple (AAPL) executive Eddy Cue testified in the case and said that there was no "valid alternative" to Google at the time and that there is still not one.
The Department of Justice's case against Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) alleges that Google's contracts to ensure its search engine is the default option on Web browsers and mobile devices is illegal.
Apple's (AAPL) search deal with Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) is widely thought to be very lucrative for the iPhone maker. In its most recent quarter, Apple (AAPL) generated $21.2B in revenue from Services, up from $19.6B in the year-ago quarter.

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