RIM CEO Fires Back at Jobs’ Comments

When Steve Jobs talks, people listen. Whether they agree with him or not is another matter altogether.

Jobs had some choice remarks and sharp opinions to share on Apple’s quarterly earnings call, taking aim at the notion of Android as an open platform and criticizing one of the defining features of a forthcoming tablet from Research In Motion.

First Google’s Android chief posted a sarcastic tweet sniping back at Jobs’ comments, and now RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie has offered a longer-format rebuttal, accusing the Apple boss of speaking from a “distortion field.” Enterprise Mobile Today takes a look.

When top executives address analysts on quarterly corporate earnings calls, they are often guarded in their remarks, cautious in their predictions and reluctant to criticize competitors.

Not so with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs.

Jobs’ comments on Monday’s earnings call, when he pronounced that the “current crop of tablets will be DOA, dead on arrival” and took shots at several rivals, notably Google’s Android, have provoked a flurry of responses, including some from the executive suites from some of the biggest names in tech.

Read the full story at Enterprise Mobile Today:


RIM CEO Balsillie Blasts Jobs’ ‘Distortion Field’