Dog Bites Man: Schmidt Resigns From Apple Board

From the "It was just a matter of time" section, this: Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from the Apple board.

The official Apple statement notes the milestone as a matter of the natural progression of things.

“Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.”

The act may have been inevitable but the timing is telling. Only last Tuesday was it revealed that Apple had turned down the iPhone version of Google Voice. Three days later the FCC informed Apple and AT&T it was looking into whether they colluded to reject that app, and others, the opening salvo in a potentially wide-ranging investigation that could expose the inner workings of the inscrutable process by which developers get their wares on the iPhone, or don't. Schmidt couldn't possibly have been allowed to keep a front-row seat for that show.

Still, this was a long time coming. When Schmidt became an Apple director two years ago the two companies may have more collaborator than competitor, but they are both now in the smartphone business, each market a browser (Chrome vs. Safari) and, in a broad sense, YouTube could be seen as a rival to iTunes as a vendor or music and music videos. Last May the New York Times reported that the Federal Trade Commission was looking into whether Schmidt's membership on both the Apple and Google boards was a violation of anti-trust laws.

Core business overlaps aside it's probable that much director time will be spent on how to handle an FCC inquiry that involves Google, so as a practical matter Schmidt would have spent much more time outside the board room than in it for that reason alone.

Dr. Eric Schmidt Resigns from Apple’s Board of Directors [Apple]

See Also:

• FTC Looking At Shared Directors at Apple, Google
• A big Google-Apple partnership next week? Bet on it.
• Apple Rejects Google Voice App, Invites Regulation
• Would Apple and AT&T Cripple a Google Voice iPhone App
• Google Voice Speaks of World Domination
• Google Voice Now Available for Mobile Phones
• Feds Want Apple and AT&T to Explain Google Voice Rejection
• Google Voice: Revolutionary — And a Bit Unnerving