Guess how much money Google has reportedly made from Android

Android profits Google news
Android profits Google news

You may not pay for Android directly when you buy a new phone, but Google certainly reaps a profit from its software, and now it seems like we know how much.

Android has generated $31 billion (about £21.8b, AU$44.2b) in revenue and $22 billion (about £15.5b, AU$31.4b) in profit, according to Bloomberg citing an Oracle v Google court transcript.

Google was keen on keeping this never-before-public information a secret, but Oracle attorney Annette Hurst used the staggering figure to convey just how much money Android has made.

Oracle's lawyer is said to have based the highly-sensitive sums of money on internal documents meant to be kept confidential, argued Google while trying to strike the comments from the record.

Android revenue isn't separated out from Google's general business income, so this is the first time we're seeing totals for the company's ad and Google Play Store app intake.

What's this case all about?

Oracle v Google has everything to do with Android and the fact that it was built on commonly used Oracle Java software (okay) - without paying for Oracle its patents (not okay).

Google says it didn't infringe on the patents and some of those patents were invalid, so now it stands accused of $1 billion (about £700m, AU$1.43b).

The lawsuit has been going on since 2010, making it a longer-running courtroom drama than Apple v Samsung. With no end in sight, there may be more juicy leaks ahead.

Matt Swider