A sign of the times: Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Google and member of the board of Apple since summer 2006, has suddenly resigned his position. His departure is direct evidence that the era of peaceful co-existence between the two companies is over and a new period of head-to-head competition is about to dawn, writes Martyn Warwick.
Mr. Schmidt's resignation comes even as US federal watchdogs try to decide if Apple and Google have been in breach of American antitrust legislation because they have been effectively sharing two board members.
That Google's CEO would be on Apple's board at all and under any circumstances seems pretty strange but no doubt it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, in recent months, as it has become more and more obvious that Apple and Google are on a competitive collision course.
Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, has said that Mr. Scmidt's input would perforce be "significantly diminished" as Google's boss would not be allowed to attend meetings where sensitive proprietary information would be discussed.
As is the usual form and formula in such cases, Eric Schmidt dutifully issued a suitably bland but opaque farewell statement. He said, “I have very much enjoyed my time on the Apple board. It’s a fantastic company.
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