Overdue or not, Eric Schmidt’s resignation from the Apple board today is certainly the right move. It’s understandable that neither side wanted to look like they had been forced into this by news of a Department of Justice investigation, so it’s fitting that they used the cover of Google’s announcement of the Chrome OS – a piece of vapourware that is at least a year away – to make the necessary split.
There are still some loose ends, however. For instance, what about Art Levinson? The former Genentech CEO still sits as a non-executive director on both Apple and Google boards. The companies have never been transparent about whether Levinson ever recuses himself from discussions of strategy that touch on both companies, as Schmidt did.
Also, did the growing competitive stresses lead to any personal tension between Schmidt and Steve Jobs? Given Jobs’ famously irascible temper you have to wonder, though Schmidt’s more conciliatory style makes it easier to imagine that what on the surface looks like an amicable parting of ways was exactly that.
The departure comes the week after news that Apple had blocked the Google Voice application from the iPhone – but we hear that that decision was actually made some weeks ago, so it sounds less likely to have been the source of an immediate flare-up between the two sides.
