Steve Jobs Sought to Destroy Google's Android: Biography

The recently departed boss of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs, vowed to destroy Google’s Android Smartphone product, according to an upcoming biography of the iconic executive.

Jobs’ animosity towards Android, which he regarded as “stolen” from Apple, was underlined by his threat to spend all the money at his disposal to ruin Google’s highly successful Android mobile operating system.

According to the book’s author, Walter Isaacson, Jobs thought that Android’s similarity to Apple’s iOS systems was a form of grand theft.

“I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this, Jobs reportedly told Isaacson in the book.

I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong.

However, Android currently enjoys almost half of the global Smartphone market, versus 19 percent for Apple.

In response, Apple has been immersed in various lawsuits against various Smartphone makers which use the Android software.

Samsung of South Korea was a particular target of Jobs. That company is now prohibited to selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 product in Australia and Germany due to Apple’s legal offensive.

According to various media reports, the relationship between Apple and Google was warm and close prior to the introduction of the Android system in late 2007, less than one year before the launch of the first iPhone.

Subsequently, Apple blocked several Google programs from its app stores.

Eric Schmidt, the current Google executive chairman, was at one time a board member at Apple.

Blogger Florian Mueller, who follows Apple closely, told BBC that Jobs’ anger at Google was justified.

The fact that Eric Schmidt stayed on Apple's board while he was preparing an iOS clone was an inexcusable betrayal of Steve Jobs' trust, he said.

According to CNET UK, the book describes a confrontation between Jobs and Schmidt at a café in California. Jobs allegedly told the Google titan: I don't want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want.