Netgear chairman and CEO Patrick Lo recently slammed Apple CEO Steve Jobs for his business practices, saying that Cupertino would have to change its closed system to compete in the future. Speaking at a lunch in Sydney, Australia, Lo said Apple would have to open its platform to compete with Google in the mobile space, according to The Sydney Morning Herald:
"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," said Lo. "Ultimately a closed system just can't go that far ... If they continue to close it and let Android continue to creep up then it's pretty difficult as I see it." "Right now the closed platform has been successful for Apple because they've been so far ahead as thought leaders because of Steve Jobs," said Lo. "Eventually they've got to find a way to open up iTunes without giving too much away on their revenue generation model."
Apple has so far been quite successful in controlling the entire ecosystem around its products, including the software, hardware, content, and services. The company has long dominated the mobile market and zoomed past competitors, but Lo argues that Apple's closed model will not work forever, pointing to how Android recently passed the iPhone in US market share.
Once he was finished thrashing Apple and Steve Jobs, Lo made sure to attack Windows Phone 7, saying that it would only further fall behind Android and iPhone. "Microsoft is over - game over - from my point of view," he said.