14 DAY TRIAL // Macquarie (USA) Equities Research has released a prediction saying Google wants to develop and launch a mobile version of its Chrome web browser for Apple's iOS platforms - the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
Suggesting such a move could enable Google to pay less for searches in the Safari web browser that ships with iOS, the research firm says “With a Google browser for iOS coming, we examine its potential impact on GOOG and historical parallels to the last browser war.”
Macquarie says Chrome iOS could drop in the App Store as soon as the second quarter, “and is very likely to be a 2012 event,” paying no attention to Apple’s stringent App Store guidelines which may result in a rejected application.
The company adds that “Google has been able to differentiate as they did with Chrome for desktop,” suggesting they have experience in such things. Perhaps Macquarie should ask Apple what they think about this whole thing before raising any investor pulses.