2011: Holy War with Google
Steve Jobs — CEO, Apple, All Things Digital D8 Conference
“We never saw ourselves in a platform war with Google. They decided to compete with us, but we just focus on making great products that delight users.”
Steve Jobs — CEO, Apple, Apple Top 100 Strategy Memo
“2011: Holy War with Google... all out effort to tie all our products together, further lock customers into our ecosystem... catch up to Android where we are behind (notifications, tethering, speech).”
The Split:Jobs insisted to journalists that Apple did not engage in platform wars and only focused on product delight. In his agenda for Apple’s most confidential executive retreat, the official headline for 2011 was a Holy War with Google explicitly aimed at locking customers into Apple’s ecosystem.
Public statements that dismiss competition as an afterthought are usually accompanied by executive retreat agendas declaring holy war.