Apple CEO Steve Jobs joined Apple's earnings call Monday afternoon--he noted he "couldn't help dropping by for our first $20 billion quarter"--and had harsh words for his rivals.
Google was one of Jobs' primary targets. He ripped into the firm's Android operating system, expressing doubts at the "open" platform Google has touted as an alternative to Apple's "closed" OS. Jobs made an attempt to reframe the discussion around "integrated" (Apple) vs "fragmented" (Google), rather than "closed" vs "open."
"We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed," Jobs said. "And we are confident that it will triumph over Google's fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as open."
According to the transcript from Seeking Alpha, Jobs offerred these thoughts on Google:
Google loves to characterize Android as open, and iOS and iPhone as closed. We find this a bit disingenuous and clouding the real difference between our two approaches. The first thing most of us think about when we hear the work open is Windows which is available on a variety of devices. Unlike Windows, however, where most pc's have the same user interface and run the same app, Android is very fragmented. Many Android OEMs, including the two largest, HTC and Motorola install proprietary user interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The users will have to figure it all out. Compare this with iPhone, where every handset works the same.
He continued:
Even if Google were right, and the real issue is closed versus open, it is worthwhile to remember that open systems don't always win. [...] In reality, we think the open versus closed argument is just a smokescreen to try and hide the real issue, which is, what's best for the customer, fragmented versus integrated. We think Android is very, very fragmented and becoming more fragmented by the day. And as you know, Apple's strives for the integrated model so that the user isn't forced to be the systems integrator.
RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry, didn't escape Jobs' tirade:
We've now passed RIM, and I don't seem them catching up with us in the foreseeable future. They must move beyond their area of strength and comfort into the unfamiliar territory of trying to become a software platform company. I think it's going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive platform and to convince developers to create apps for yet a third software platform after iOS and Android. With 300,000 apps on Apple's App Store, RIM has a high mountain ahead of them to climb.
Jobs also expressed doubt that the tablets that are coming to market will be able to rival the iPad:
[W]e think the current crop of seven-inch tablets are going to be DOA, Dead on Arrival. Their manufacturers will learn the painful lesson that their tablets are too small and increase the size next year, thereby abandoning both customers and developers who jumped on the seven-inch bandwagon with an orphan product. Sounds like lots of fun ahead.
Read the full transcript from the earnings call here. Listen to Jobs' "anti-Google rant" below.
Do you agree or disagree with his perspective? Why? Weigh in below.