Why Steve Jobs Went 'Thermonuclear' Over Android

Anyone who follows the smartphone and tablet market knows that Android has become the No. 1 mobile operating system in the world. They also know that, prior to his death in 2011, Steve Jobs was not very happy about Google's mobile operating system. In fact, he made a rather bold threat when he talked about his dislike of this competing mobile OS.

"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. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this," the late CEO famously said.

When Apple was working on its iPhone strategy, which included what is now iOS, Google's CEO was Eric Schmidt and he was serving on Apple's board. That means that he was likely privy to Apple's iPhone strategy and roadmap at the same time Android was in its infancy. Two years prior to the iPhone launch, Google acquired Andy Rubin's Android Inc., which would eventually became the Android mobile OS.

That much we know. But there are some questions that, to this day, I still cannot get a solid answer about from anyone involved with this issue.

1. The moment Eric Schmidt realized Google had what would be a potential competing OS to iOS, why did he not resign from Apple's board?

2. Did he declare to Steve Jobs and the board that Google had a smartphone OS in the works? If so, did he recuse himself when the board discussed the iPhone and its OS?

3. I, and a lot of industry people, knew Rubin was creating a mobile OS. Once Google purchased Android, Inc., did Apple ask Eric Schmidt about this and if so, did he tell them it would compete with Apple's mobile OS?

4. Once Apple knew Google had a competing OS, why did it take until 2009 for Schmidt to resign from Apple's board?

While these questions still linger in my mind and may never be answered, the bottom line is that Google created Android while Schmidt was on Apple's board. And from Steve Jobs's rant or threat, it seems clear that he felt that it was stolen from Apple during this time period.

Steve Jobs died with the knowledge that Android had begun to own the mobile OS space and that Apple now could no longer keep that from happening. The best it could do was to try and slow it down or challenge its growth via lawsuits targeted at vendors that used Android, like Samsung.

Apple also went after Google and Android via patents it bought through the "Rockstar" consortium, a joint venture owned by five prominent tech companies. Rockstar outbid Google in the 2011 auction to acquire Nortel's massive patent portfolio for $4.5 billion. Apple put up $2.6 billion of that total, with Microsoft, Cisco, and others putting up the balance.

What is significant about this patent portfolio is that it included important intellectual property surrounding Wi-Fi networking and cellular connectivity, among many other areas related to mobile technology. Rockstar proceeded to sue Google and numerous Android OEMs like Samsung and HTC last year.

Word came down two weeks ago that Google had settled this patent fight with Rockstar. Though we don't know the dollar amount of the settlement, it appears that Apple will get at least some compensation from Google's "theft" of its mobile OS IP. However, I doubt that the settlement would even come close to covering Apple's portion of the $2.6 billion that it put into the Rockstar consortium. I am not sure what Steve Jobs would think about this "solution" to his thermonuclear threat, but Apple is under new management now and it seems Tim Cook and team is being more realistic about the Android challenge. Apple is instead trying to thwart its growth especially in high-end smartphones by innovating with its own smartphones and iOS operating system.

While I think Apple is still very frustrated about what happened during the time Schmidt was on its board and the eventual impact Android had on Apple's own mobile OS growth, I do think Cook and Apple have accepted the role of Android in the market and realized that they have to live with this fact. Whatever compensation it gets from the Rockstar/Google settlement and any money it finally collects from winning the Samsung suit will now be the only consolation on this issue. Android is here to stay, and Apple now has to try and win through innovating on its own mobile devices and operating system in the future.

For more, see PCMag's review of Google Android 5.0 Lollipop and Apple iOS 8.