Report : Apple, Yahoo Hold Talks For Deeper iOS Integration
In addition to powering iOS’s Weather and Stocks apps, Yahoo is reportedly in talks with Apple to play a more prominent role in the Cupertino company’s ecosystem. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two companies are discussing “new arrangements, including possible deals to get more content from Yahoo Sports, Yahoo News” and other properties.
While the report does not provide any true specifics regarding what an increased partnership could entail, the report notes that discussions have surrounded increased Yahoo integration into Siri.
Currently, Yahoo’s presence on iOS is limited to the Stocks app, the Weather app, a search option in mobile Safari and sports scores as accessed through Siri.
Yahoo was one of Apple’s initial partners with the iPhone and iOS. Google had a bigger foothold in key areas like Maps and as the default search engine in Safari, but Apple did away with the company’s mapping service as part of iOS 6 last year.
Data from Yahoo Finance and its weather site already come preloaded onto iPhones and Yahoo data like sports stats help power Apple’s voice-activated “assistant” Siri. But the companies continue to discuss new arrangements, including possible deals to get more content from Yahoo Sports and Yahoo News, among other Yahoo Web properties, preloaded onto Apple devices or available through an expanded partnership with Siri, one of these people said.
Yahoo does not have a rival operating system for mobile devices, unlike Google, which has soured the relationship between Apple and Google. That said, Google has been one of the most active major third-party developers on Apple’s iOS platform, bringing many of its services over in app form.
Yahoo’s motives are apparently to grow the company’s mobile presence, and a deeper partnership with Apple could certainly achieve that. The window of opportunity to rely less on Google seems to be opening for Apple, but whether the company will capitalize remains to be seen.
[Wall Street Journal]
