Google CEO Eric Schmidt Resigns From Apple's Board

NEW YORK (AP) -- Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple's board of directors as the Internet search leader increasingly develops products that compete with Apple's core businesses, including the popular iPhone.

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs said Schmidt would have had to recuse himself from large portions of the company's board meetings to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

"Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple's Board," Jobs said in a statement.

Schmidt had been on Apple's board since August 2006. His resignation comes as the Federal Trade Commission is looking into whether Google's common ties with Apple might discourage competition.

Just a few months ago, Schmidt expressed confidence that a government inquiry into his role on Apple's board won't find any evidence that the ties between the two companies throttle competition in mobile phones and elsewhere.

He said in May, in a media session ahead of Google's annual shareholder meeting, that he hasn't considered stepping down as an Apple director because he doesn't view the company as a "primary competitor."

Google's Android operating system is used in mobile devices that compete with Apple's iPhone.

And Google is developing a free operating system based on its Web browser, Chrome, a potential rival to Apple's Mac systems.

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Google has recently turned its 2007 acquisition of GrandCentral into Google Voice, which assigns a unique phone number to each user and lets the user direct calls to that number to any other phone line.

Relationships between the two company haven't always been smooth. On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission sent letters to Apple and Google -- as well as Apple's iPhone partner in the United States, AT&T Inc. -- seeking more information on Apple's rejection of Google Voice's application for the iPhone.

The popularity of Apple's iPhone is soaring even amid the recession. The company said in July it sold more than 5.2 million iPhones in the U.S. during the April-June quarter, more than seven times what it sold in the same period a year earlier.

Google's Android operating system currently runs on the T-Mobile G1, which went on sale last year. The second "Google phone" from T-Mobile goes on sale this week. Google's goal is to make Android the operating system for phones across the industry, so it gives away the software for free for any phone maker to incorporate.

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Comments

[cfw123]

I am a strong supporter of both Google and Apple -- I own two Macs (iMac & MacBook 13" Pro) and use Google products as much as possible also. I am NOT a fan of Microsoft, which I think has screwed all of us long enough, until I got totally tired of being ripped off with Vista -- And MS 7 just has a new look but it's really Vista inside. I expect Chrome OS from Google to replace Microsoft Windows, and not Mac's OS X's Snow Leopard.

[Crappol]

He was a mole in Apple's board. He took whatever they were doing and then used "open" nature to introduce new products. what a cheat! He should have been fired a while ago.

[FCorey]

The G1 is only 9 months old and is on the heels of the IPHONE. While I am a G1 owner and fan, I think STEVE Jobs would have been nuts to keep (what is basically a spy) ERIC Schmidtz in the mail room, much less the Board of Directors.

[Fabini]

I'm ready and able to fill his slot Steve. Call me.

[Ballot]

Google will eventually own Apple--together they can prove to become one of the best tech companies the world will ever know. Companies like HP are no longer and have been dwindling ever since the passing of Bill and Dave, and the HP Way; Dell struggles daily; IBM will forever be a staple.

[OutsourcedAgain]

I don't think so. Apple fought off Microsoft and I think Google isn't really a threat.

[KCFreedom]

Does Google know anything about hardware? I think not.

[OswegoKayaker]

People have been saying Apple is dead since 1985 -- I am glad I didn't listen to my stockbroker always telling me to sell, sell, sell. Apple has a way of hanging in when everyone was supposed to own them over the years. Didn't happen, won't happen.

[haiku man]

He didn't love "fearless leader" Jobs enough.

[ILoveTexas]

Don't let the door hit your rear end on the way out, Eric. To think... This guy has the audacity to release products that compete directly with the iPhone, Safari, etc.

[stepintothelight]

It's the smart move so there is no appearance of anything wrong.

[Whitley2009]

Sorry he had to go, but it is for the best.

As to the reference about the "Chrome" OS being competitive with the AppleMac OS system, is it not more accurate to say that "Chrome" is meant to be competitive with Microsoft and its OS system?

[ReedYoung]

The approximated press will never get tech right. They still refer to "cracking" as "hacking" and I think it's just because of that old Angelina Jolie movie. They're hopeless.

[IncredulousGeezer]

Both very successful companies and, I think, Jobs' past difficulties on option dating questions made both he and Schmidt ultra-sensitive to any questions of propriety as well as legality.
As with Caesar's wife, they must be above suspicion.

[TFlint]

Now that he's stolen all the secrets he needs to duplicate Apple's products . . . . .

[TopJack]

As a fan of both companies, this was nonetheless necessary.

It's a shame they had to split, but too many conflicts - Chrome OS, the Google Voice iPhone app brouhaha - are arising.

I'll continue to support both - as long as high quality products and innovation continue to be the norm.

[Whitley2009]

I agree, we should support both. I'll support any company that will give MS competition as to their operating system, and the way they have dealt with people over the decades.

[Billy Hell]

Google rules OK! I must say I find their blog search very useful too.

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch