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Patrick Lo, CEO of Netgear, has slammed Apple’s “closed” business model while also predicting failure for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Lo reserved his worst for Steve Jobs. Riled by Apple’s continued refusal to incorporate Adobe Flash into their product range, Lo claims the decision to “trash Flash” is down to Jobs’ “ego”, rather than the official line: security, performance and power usage issues.
Lo favours open-source platform Android and predicted the Google operating system would soon overtake Apple globally.
Speaking about Apple’s closed hardware and software policy, Lo said: "Steve Jobs wants to suffocate the distribution so even though he doesn’t own the content he could basically demand a ransom."
He continued: "Once Steve Jobs goes away, which is probably not far away, then Apple will have to make a strategic decision on whether to open up the platform.” This may or may not be a reference to Jobs’ current medical leave from Apple.
Lo said Apple’s closed business model only works because as far as portable devices go, "they own the market".
Not running out of steam, the Netgear boss moved onto Microsoft. "Microsoft is over – game over" Windows Phone 7 is destined to finish in third place behind the iPhone and Android devices, if you’re to believe Lo.
Apart from networking products, Netgear have recently manufactured a series of wi-fi Skype mobiles, like the SPH200W. Could Patrick Lo’s apparent enthusiasm for the mobile market be a sign of products to come? Watch this space.
