Android has reportedly generated $31 billion in revenue for Google

Android Marshmallow
Android Marshmallow (Image credit: Android Central)

According to a new report, Android has generated $31 billion in revenue for Google thus far over its lifetime. The number comes via Bloomberg, which cites statements from Google's ongoing court case with Oracle:

Google Inc.'s Android operating system has generated revenue of $31 billion and $22 billion in profit, a lawyer for Oracle Corp. said in court while disclosing figures Google says shouldn't have been made public.

According to the report, Google is seeking to have portions of the public transcript from the court case redacted and sealed in response, stating that Oracle's lawyer disclosed very sensitive information marked "Attorney's Eyes Only."

The unconfirmed number is interesting because, while Google doesn't make any money off of Android directly, the company has still managed to attribute some portion of its revenues to the popularity of Android. We've never had a direct insight into how much Android is worth to Google, but this is a good start.

For a bit of context, the alleged $31 billion in lifetime revenue from Android is actually fairly small in comparison to Google's total company revenue, which in 2014 alone (we'll see what 2015's numbers were with its February 1 earnings call) was $66 billion.

Source: Bloomberg

Dan Thorp-Lancaster