In my previous two posts (here and here), I discussed the Apple iPhone Developer license agreement and its effect on developers. I also discussed how some of its provisions might not be enforceable. Since Google has been on the receiving end of some of Apple’s onerous terms, why didn’t it make any challenges?
First, let me talk about a happier time. When the iPhone first came out, Apple looked to Google as its default search engine provider and its sole Maps provider. Google’s Voice Search even violates terms of Apple’s developer license agreement and Apple approved it anyways. But then Google’s Android began to compete seriously with the iPhone. Since then, Apple has cooled to Google. It has purchased a mapping company, leading people to speculate that it is looking to replace Google as its Maps provider. And more relevant to this discussion, Apple has refused to accept Google’s Voice application.
So if I’m right and Apple’s developer license terms aren’t enforceable, why didn’t Google challenge Apple in court over Voice’s rejection? I have a couple of ideas, one is legally based and the other is business based. The legal argument is pretty simple. When a court tries to determine if a contract term is unconscionable, it looks to the disparity in the bargaining power of the parties. While most app developers don’t have equal bargaining power with Apple, it is hard to argue that Google, which is a larger company than Apple, has less bargaining power. Although one could argue that there is a big disparity when it comes to Google’s bargaining power with Apple in relation to iPhone apps, I don’t think Google even wants to challenge Apple on this issue.
Google makes its money by getting people to do things on the web instead of in separate applications. When Apple rejected Google Voice, Google recreated the application as a web app, eliminating an iPhone lock in. Google cannot and does not want to compete with Apple or Microsoft on the operating system market. It wants people to treat the browser as the operating system. Google Maps revolutionized what people thought was possible in the browser by using AJAX. It continues to bring applications that were once thought of as exclusively desktop applications to the web (just look at Picasa and Docs). And it has done so by providing all of the tools for free, furthering its core business, advertising. Even more importantly, Google’s Android is now competing with the iPhone.
Google Voice is an awesome application. Apple’s exclusion of the application doesn’t hurt Google, it hurts Apple. Android has a much more open development environment and is just more developer-friendly all around than the iPhone. The only real difference between the two is the audience. The iPhone can still earn the developer more money than any other phone platform, and at the end of the day, Google wants to see the iPhone’s popularity decline. The harder it is for developers to work with Apple, the easier it will be to get them to develop for Google’s Android. Spending precious Google time and money to force Apple to be more open works against its long term goal. And besides, the FCC has decided to review Apple and AT&T (Apple’s exclusive iPhone provider in the US) all on their own. More on this tomorrow.

Stephen Burch

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