Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO has been on Apple’s board of directors since August 2006. Times have changed however, and competition slowly arose between the two companies as Google develops products that rival Apple’s.
Today, Apple Inc. said that in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, Schmidt would have to recuse himself from “portions of the company’s board meetings”.
“Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board,” Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, said in a statement.
Google’s products (besides their search engine of course and thier apps) include their Android operating system used in mobile devices that compete with the iPhones. Another product that would potentially be a competitor to Apple is Google’s free Chrome-based operating system which can rival the Mac systems.
The most controversial and recent issue involving the two companies however is Apple’s rejection of Google Voice and other third-party apps that use it in the App Store. Last Friday, FCC has sent a letter to Apple, Google and AT&T, the iPhone carrier in the U.S., seeking more info about the rejection.
Hmmn, I have a pretty strong feeling that we will be hearing more about this issue in the next couple of days, don’t you think so?
Source: http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090803/ap_on_hi_te/us_apple_google_ceo
