Do Google and Apple Need Each Other?

To say that the once fruitful relationship between the jewels of Cupertino and Mountain View has become strained is an understatement. First, it was the unveiling of Google's new mobile computing platform, Android, that ruffled Apple's feathers. Next, it was the announcement that Google would soon be entering another of Apple's markets with the development of their Chrome OS. This led to the ouster of Google's CEO from Apple's board, and a subsequent investigation by the FTC for "remaining interlocking directorates". As if that wasn't enough, there was then the "small" issue of Google Voice's entrance (and immediate exit) from Apple's App Store, leading to a full FCC investigation and very public "he said, she said" between AT&T, Google, and Apple. The past week has shown that the two companies are quite obviously distancing themselves from one another, with Apple acquiring Google Maps competitor Placebase, and today's announcement of Google's partnership with AT&T competitor Verizon to further drive penetration of its Android platform.

Strategic partnerships between two large entities are often built on shaky ground to begin with, in particular when those companies are in the same industry. It doesn't help that both Google and Apple are growing at alarming rates, and I suppose one might argue that some infringement upon each other's territory might have been unavoidable. It begs the question though, does either company benefit (or at least lose less) from the bickering and potential loss of the partnership? Apple once again seems destined to fight the battle of platform dependancy against platform agnosticism, and much like it was when Apple and Microsoft battled in the early days of personal computing I think Google may have the upper hand. They are not tied to a specifc business model, a specific audience, or a specific hardware/software platform in most instances. Google has the ability to plug their solutions into a extraordinary amount of places, allowing them to weather the loss of a partnership like they have with Apple...even if that partnership provides them with hooks into arguably the most popular mobile device available. Apple, on the other hand relies more heavily on quality rather than quantity. They depend upon the control of the entire stack of a product to succeed, and I fear will have a much harder time finding pieces to fill in the holes that Google leaves open in their product base. Regardless of its history, Apple seems destined to fall into the same interoperability trap set by Microsoft many years ago. It's ironic that despite their corporate motto, it may be Google that plays the villan this time.