14 DAY TRIAL // Netgear CEO Patrick Lo has issued a statement formally apologizing for his “choice of words” for comments made in reference to Apple and its Chief Executive Officer, Steve Jobs.
Speaking at a press event in Sydney, Australia on Monday, Lo took a few stabs at Apple and Microsoft, citing the former’s business model as inconsistent with today’s ‘open’ environment.
Lo went to criticize Apple for trusting Steve Jobs with all the big decisions, including the walls surrounding its iTunes business, or so it was interpreted, based on his statements.
The comments attracted controversy, as he also seemed to suggest that Steve Jobs would not be around for long. Coincidentally (or not), Steve Jobs is currently on medial leave, the second one in the past few years.
Admittedly, many believe the CEO will be forced to step down rather soon.
Seeing how his comments had been picked up and dished out by the media, Netgear’s head decided to issue a statement to formally apologize for what he called a bad “choice of words.”
Lo upholds that Steve Jobs’ health-related issues never crossed his mind when he made his comments on Monday.
“Some of my comments were covered by the media who attended, and were reported more broadly outside Australia by media and bloggers who picked up on the story,” Lo wrote in an email.
“I stand by the opinions I stated on the business issues. Supporting open standards and environments in order to ease seamless networking integration of multimedia content is good for the consumer and good for content providers,” he continued.
“However, I deeply regret the choice of words I used in relation to business decisions Apple must grapple with in the future in relation to open vs. closed systems, which have been construed by some to be references to Steve Jobs’ health and which was never my intention,” Lo claims.
He ends his letter saying, “I sincerely apologize that what I said was interpreted this way, and I wish Steve only the very best.”