Samsung Not Planning to Replace Default Search Engine From Google to Microsoft’s Bing Any Time Soon: Report

Samsung Electronics will not change the default search engine on its smartphones from Google to Microsoft’s Bing any time soon, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares of Google-parent Alphabet gained more than 1 percent in premarket trading. Microsoft shares were down about 1 percent.

Samsung has suspended an internal review that explored replacing Google with Bing on its web-browsing app, which comes pre-installed on the company’s smartphones, according to the report.

Google, Samsung, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

A sizable part of the revenue earned by search-engine companies comes from their long-term partnerships with phone makers such as Apple and Xiaomi.

Google earns an estimated $3 billion (roughly Rs. 24,625 crore) in annual revenue from the Samsung contract, according to an April 16 report by the New York Times.

Samsung considering a potential shift to Bing was first reported last month and had weighed on Alphabet’s shares at the time.

The integration of OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technology into Microsoft-owned Bing has driven people to the little-used search engine and helped it compete better with market leader Google in page visits growth, according to data from analytics firm Similarweb.

At the time, Google’s reaction to the threat was “panic” as the company earns an estimated $3 billion (roughly Rs. 24,625 crore) in annual revenue from the Samsung contract, the report last month said.

The report also mentioned that Google was racing to build an all-new AI-powered search engine that would offer a more personalized experience than its current service, which is also set to be upgraded with AI features.

© Thomson Reuters 2023