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| Steve Jobs takes shots at Android and BlackBerry |
Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a series of candid remarks about RIM and the fragmented Android market, as well as the many 7-inch tablets that will soon compete with the iPad.
Steve Jobs does not mince words. The Apple CEO and founder is known to say what’s on his mind when it’s on his mind. Yesterday, Jobs made an appearance during an earnings conference call and was quite vocal about the continued dominance of the iOS platform —
the operating system that powers the iPhone and iPad. He had harsh words for Android and RIM, the maker of BlackBerry, and the many new Android tablets hitting the market later this year. Below are some of his best quotes, as reported by Enterprise Mobile Today and The Mac Observer.RIM vs iPhone
Jobs touted the iPhone (14.1 million) outselling BlackBerry devices (12.1 million) for the quarter. “We’ve now passed RIM and I don’t see them catching up with us in the future because they must [transform] to a software platform company. I think that’s a challenge for them to get developers,” he said.
Android vs iPhone
The Apple CEO made a point to highlight the number of Android devices and the open nature of the platform, which he sees as a negative for user experience. “Many OEMs, like Motorola and HTC, install proprietary user interfaces to distinguish their devices. Compare that to the iPhone; every one works the same…In reality, the open versus closed debate is a smoke screen of the real issue, which is what’s best for the customer, fragmented or integrated? Apple strives for the integrated model so users aren’t the systems integrator. We think that’s a huge strength. Integrated will trump fragmented every time.”
New 7-inch tablets vs iPad
Seven inches isn’t enough, says Jobs. He called the slate of new Android-based tablets “tweener,” meaning that they’re too large to be smartphones and too small to be usable tablets. “We think the current crop of tablets will be DOA, dead on arrival,” said Jobs. “They’ll learn the screens are too small and increase the size next year, while the old ones will be orphan products.”
Finally, Jobs pointed out the advantage the iPad already has: its 35,000 apps. “iPad now has over 35,000 apps on the App store. This new crop of tablets will have near zero.”
Under fire
All of these quotes seem to run counter to a NY Times piece about Apple, which claimed that the company’s dominant position is unsustainable as the smartphone market matures. Steve Jobs does not agree. What do you think? Can Apple retain its dominance when its two products face an army of competitors?
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