Apple Inc. (AAPL): What? Leave the Ecosystem Door Cracked Open?!!

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has always been very careful about letting certain companies, software and services inside their stringent, well-controlled ecosystem – whether it is iOS or OS X which is being referenced. And it seems that that door into the ecosystem, which was already cracked open only a little bit, was finally going to be closed for good to eliminate any potential competitors to Apple’s own native services and software when Apple has basically shut out Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) from the native platform on iOS 6 last year, and then again on the new iOS 7.

It would seem understandable for a company like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to keep its own services and software applications free from native competition, and instead make iPhone and iPad users have to find their favorite competing apps in the Apple App Store. And it comes as no surprise that Apple would be more than reticent to let Google Search remain viable on iDevices just because it is a market leader – and especially when Apple has its own Safari web browser.

You can just see Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) taking a stricter approach to competing apps and services like what it has done with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) off the iPhone home screen as much as possible, including popular apps like YouTube. It would seem that Safari will have a chance to build market share and to gain on Google Search in mobile use if Apple were to go exclusively with Safari.

But apparently, it seems that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is willing to make a bit of an exception in a couple countries – which may suggest that this may be a pander to the residents of those countries to encourage them to buy iPhones because their search engine or browser of choice is available.

And Apple must also recognize that search is so important that it is helpful for some users of iPhones (or potential users) to be able to rely on a search engine they know and trust. That seems to be the approach in countries like Russia, Turkey and the Ukraine, where Apple is apparently not going to force iPhone users in those countries to use Safari. In those countries, Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) is the search engine that has Google-like control over the market. While Safari will still be the default browser, reports are that users in those countries would indeed be able to access Yandex as an alternative browser.

What are your thoughts? Is the inclusion of Yandex NV (NASDAQ:YNDX) into the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ecosystem good for business in the same way that excluding Google from iOS 7 is good for business? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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