Apple · Strategy · Senior · 45 to 60 minutes

Should Apple build a web search engine?

Apple is a global technology company that sells devices, software, and digital services to consumers and businesses. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

Strategic thinking
Financial judgment
Market analysis
Executive communication
Risk management

The situation

You are a senior PM in Apple's services organization. The leadership team wants a recommendation on whether Apple should invest in building its own general purpose search engine. Today, Safari users commonly rely on an external default search provider, and that arrangement is worth billions of dollars per year to Apple. Search also matters strategically because it shapes how users discover information, how traffic flows across the web, and how much control Apple has over a core user experience on its devices. New AI experiences are beginning to change how people search and how results may be delivered, which could reopen a market that has long looked difficult to enter. Apple also has strengths in privacy, device distribution, and strong hardware economics, which could support a search experience with a different business model than an ad heavy incumbent. Assume the current default search arrangement on Safari is worth several billions of dollars per year to Apple, and that a serious in house search effort would require years of investment before it reached broad quality parity. Advise whether Apple should enter now, later, or not at all, and how to sequence the decision.

What to produce

A 2 page strategy memo.

Your answer must

State a clear recommendation, launch, wait, or do not enter, and define the strategic vision behind it.
Quantify the value of the status quo and the opportunity cost of disrupting it, using illustrative ranges if needed.
Assess how AI could change the search market, both by lowering barriers for new entrants and by changing what users expect from search.
Compare at least three options, such as full search entry, narrower search capabilities first, or continuing the current partner led model.
Address second order effects on Safari, Services revenue, Apple's privacy brand, and the broader device ecosystem.
Propose a sequence of next steps and decision checkpoints for the next 12 to 24 months.

Constraints

Protect Apple's privacy positioning and user trust.
Do not assume Apple can quickly match incumbent search quality, scale, or monetization capabilities.
Account for the risk to current Safari default search payments.
Stay within moves Apple could plausibly control, without relying on speculative acquisitions or regulatory outcomes.

Format

Use sections for recommendation, why now, economics of the status quo, options, risks, and next steps.

How Apple actually played it

A strategy case on Apple building its own search engine while receiving billions annually from Google for Safari defaults. It weighs the lost payments, capability gaps, AI shifts in search and Apple's hardware margins that could allow an ad-free model.

Quantify what the status quo is worth before proposing to disrupt it
A strong strategy answer names a vision, not only a feature list
Consider how technology shifts change the market you are entering

Built from Apple PM Interview: Should Apple Launch Its Own Search Engine? by Ajitesh, Tough Tongue AI (PM Interview Prep Weekly).