Netgear CEO Patrick Lo has spoken out over Apple’s closed ecosystem and the ego of Steve Jobs. Speaking at a lunch in Sydney Australia, Lo questioned the future of Apple’s closed system, in the face of mounting competition from Google’s “Open” Android operating system.

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. 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.

Lo also went on to criticize Steve Jobs over his thoughts on Flash.

What’s the reason for him to trash Flash? There’s no reason other than ego.

Lo was asked if he had spoken to Steve Jobs over his concerns but replied “Steve Jobs doesn’t give me a minute!”

Lo did not stop with Apple, he also claimed that Microsoft had fallen too far behind with the Windows Phone 7 platform and that it was now game over.

Strong views, but are they fair? Do Apple need to open up the platform to continue the growth needed to see off Android? Do Apple care about the iPhone being the number one selling smartphone? Let us know what you think in the comments!

[Sydney Morning Herald]

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Apple, Google, News, android, app store, flash, iPhone, iPhone 3G, ios 4, iphone 3gs, iphone 4, jobs, netgear, patrick lo, steve. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.