Evidence has surfaced that Apple and Google’s formerly close relationship is disintegrating.

One-time allies, the two companies have come to blows over their respective product offerings.

Google announced the launch of its Nexus smartphone this month in direct competition to the iPhone which, along with the search giant’s decision to launch an unofficial app for the iPhone called Google Voice, has not made Apple happy campers.

Apple’s failure to approve the app in 2009 led to Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt quitting his position on the tech giant’s board.

Rumours have spread through the media that when Apple announces its new ‘tablet’ that it will drop Google as the default search engine in its products and replace it with Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.

The deteriorating relationship comes as both companies reported massive profits. Google announced a five-fold rise in quarterly net profit to USD$1.97 billion and said annual net profit rose 54% to USD$6.52 billion.

Apple boasted equally large first-quarter revenue figures of USD$15.68 billion, with a net quarterly profit of USD$3.38 billion, however speculation that the company has inflated its earnings has also been reported.