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CNBC's Jim Goldman On Eric Schmidt, Google CEO And Apple Director

Posted by: Arik Hesseldahl on April 15

“To me it’s amazing that he’s lasted this long,” CNBC’s Jim Goldman writes about Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s position on Apple’s board of directors. I’ve been wondering the same thing for awhile myself.

First there’s Android, the Google-made smart phone operating system that is sold to phone manufacturers as an alternative to the iPhone. Now there’s word that Android may show up in netbooks from HP, putting it competition or a sort with not only Microsoft’s Windows but also the Mac.

Google’s also a big backer of Clearwire, which is a would-be competitor to AT&T on the wireless data front, though that will take some time.

Schmidt can certainly recuse himself from iPhone-related discussion, as he’s said he has in the past. Presuming this Android-based netbook product takes off, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where Apple also launches a netbook that makes Apple and Google direct competitors on that front too. He can wall himself off from that discussion too. Then what? Given time he’ll run out of things he can talk about at board meetings.

I like the idea of having Schmidt on Apple’s board, and I like the idea of Apple and Google working together as much as possible. But the potential for conflicts of interest appear to be mounting.

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Reader Comments

N. Venkatraman

April 16, 2009 03:58 PM

This is one of the challenges of the digital, networked economy where the boundaries between competitors and partners (complementors) are not clear-cut. When Schmidt joined the Apple Board, Google and Apple were not competing head-on in any segment. Now, they do in the mobile phone space but otherwise, they could cooperate and they do.

N. Venkatraman

April 16, 2009 07:11 PM

This is one of the challenges of the digital, networked economy where the boundaries between competitors and partners (complementors) are not clear-cut. When Schmidt joined the Apple Board, Google and Apple were not competing head-on in any segment. Now, they do in the mobile phone space but otherwise, they could cooperate and they do.

Steven

April 20, 2009 12:38 AM

You know what they say: keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

But seriously, I believe that this relationship persists for several reasons. First, the two companies have similar outlooks on the tech industry and how business should be conducted. Second, they have a common adversary in Microsoft. Finally, I don't think they mind competing with each other in the smartphone arena because they have different approaches and because they believe there is room for both in the marketplace as long as they compete fairly. It is this last reason which I believe will negate any possible conflicts of interest.

As for the netbook situation, I believe the lure of Android is that PC makers wish to continue to be able to sell cheap netbooks without having to pay Microsoft or to worry about whether their product is powerful enough to run the next version of Windows. Conversely, you can best believe that if Apple introduces a "netbook" product, it will not be competing in that bargain end of the pool. It will be running a scaled-down Mac OS X or a beefed-up iPhone OS, and it certainly won't be selling for less than what iPhone costs. In fact, I would not be surprised if it is priced only nominally less than the least expensive Macbook. Consequently, this should not present direct competition for Android in that area.

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A blog on the daily doings of Apple and the many companies in its orbit, with insight and analysis by two longtime Apple-watchers BusinessWeek Senior Writer Peter Burrows and BusinessWeek.com Senior Technology Writer Arik Hesseldahl.

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