Search for the Apple

I know most of the people would by now have read or heard about the rumors of Apple developing a Search Engine in competition to Google. I did not put much thought into it before. Now, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I would give my justification very soon.

Jumping into selling mobile phones was something everyone was betting big a few 4 or 5 years ago. But at that time, there was no company to whom we could stand up and say "Hey. Look what those guys are doing. Didn't I predict that ?". Apple gave a big bolt to the Mobile industry by coming up with its iPhone. The reason why it shook the industry was the fact that someone, at last someone thought of the Mobile Phone as a computer albeit with limited capabilities. The whole "Mobile Phones are going to be the next wave of Information Technology Revolution" thing was born. People were predicting this for a long time (at least since 2003 I guess), but there was no clear direction before. As I write this, Mobile Phones are going to become the number one device for accessing the Internet. This is what drew Google into the mobile handset software/OS industry. And as they say, rest is history although not old at all. Google's Android Mobile OS based devices have outsold most other devices in US for the last quarter. The entry of first Apple and then Google into the mobile handset industry (hardware & software) is what is giving sleepless nights to Nokia, a company which relies on Symbian OS for most of its devices. Palm was almost dead before HP bought it. Motorola, Sony, LG and Samsung are adopting Android at a frantic pace.

Consider the enterprise software industry. Oracle has been gobbling companies by the dozens. What is that they want to achieve ? Obviously, they want to become the number 1 Application Software Company in the world. Apart from that, the biggest reason is the integrated offering that they would be able to offer customers. IBM has also been buying more companies in the last 2 or 3 years. Same with HP. SAP just joined the bandwagon by buying Sybase. Every company wants to offer integrated systems. They realize that the marriage of hardware and software is very essential for the survival of the Computer World.

What do we get from the above 2 examples ? Consolidation, Integration and sometimes Area Overlap. This is what is happening in the Cloud world or Web Apps world. Google with its enormous amount of cash from advertising is increasingly entering into other companies' territories. Although, they are doing everything differently. They believe in the concept of the Web becoming the soul of a computer. And they seem to be right. They are offering everything on the cloud. Using their ubiquitous brand name and their innovation prowess, they are blasting their way into every aspect of our life that can be improved through technology. How and why are they doing it ? They are doing it using the billions of dollars they earn through advertising. The reason is they can do it. Its because they have so much information in this world that if they sell it (which is not possible off course), I think they can afford to buy another Planet. They are going to integrate every such thing with their Search engine, their cloud based apps, their highly optimized data centers and most importantly the WEB. They are developing the infrastructure for the next Information Technology revolution. Although, more than 80 % of their revenues come from advertising, I am sure this will change in the next 10 years.

Integrating with the WEB is one thing that most companies are already thinking about. And some like Microsoft are investing huge sums of money to get some head start in the next technology revolution. I admire them for sticking onto their beliefs. And what better example than Bing. Bing is still very small, but it is something that has the potential especially with a company like Microsoft behind it. In this next information technology revolution, where is Apple? Apple, just 2 days ago, became the biggest technology company by market share. But, the WEB is the place where they are a little behind. That is the reason why they have to enter the Search Engine business. I hope they enter it one day and will do it by "thinking different". Someone has to stop Google from making humans overly reliant on it. Its not only about the money, but also about the infrastructure, the devices and the applications for the next wave. Although, entering the Search business just for money is also justifiable given the huge market. Apple has to take some steps. Although it will take a good 6 to 8 years for Google to achieve its long term goals, companies have time. And I am not saying companies are not doing anything. Its just that we do not know. I am hopeful of Apple innovating endlessly. Its going to be an interesting battle.