Pretty big industry news and general news as well right now, so we might as well report it. Apple (APPL) put out a press release today that Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple’s Board of Directors, due to conflict of interest between Google’s products and Apple’s products.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs:
“Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to 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.”
MarkJournal reported on the business relationship straining between Apple and Google earlier. This is the result, and there’s not much to say about the it, except that it’s an unfortunate break between two “good” powers.
I’m interested in seeing how far this goes, as both companies become bigger and bigger competitors against each other. You didn’t have an Apple vs. Google before — now you do. As companies grow into other areas, more conflict of interest problems arise in expansion.
Tags: android, apple, boardofdirectors, chromeos, conflictofinterest, google, iphone
