Apple's enemies: An A-Z guide

Apple's success in creating amazing products means it gains lovers and haters, so here's an A-Z selection of Apple's foes, ancient and modern.

Apple's enemies: An A-Z guide

A: Apple

Apple's secrecy helps it surprise customers but makes it too easy for critics to describe it as "arrogant".

B: Big Blue

IBM once led the PC market. Not any more.

C: Creative Technology

The iPod may be about to mutate, but its original menu structure cost Apple $100 million in settlement to former MP3 player market leader, Creative Technology.

D: Dell

Dell CEO Michael Dell once warned that Apple should sell its shares and return the cash to stockholders. He took Dell private in 2013.

E: eMachines

eMachines made the eOne iMac-clone, Apple sued and won. eMachines collapsed but staggered along until finally expiring in 2013.

F: Flash

Apple's Steve Jobs told use everything that was wrong with Flash. He was right. Flash lingers on, but it's importance is fading.

G: Google

Steve Jobs declared Google's Android OS "a stolen product: and vowed "thermonuclear" war. History will confirm the dying genius didn't realize Google had already begun one.

H: Huawei

Apple and Samsung are apparently under threat from cheaper smartphones from this Chinese firm. However, Apple doesn't offer cheap smartphones, so it's a Samsung problem. (Also see: HP).

I: Intel

Apple's decision to work with PowerPC processors put it in competition with PCs based on Intel chips. Things changed. Macs presently run on Intel chips.

J: Journalists

Journalists tell people stories about Apple because readers want them to. Apple wants to keep its secrets. This creates a little tension.

K: Kodak

There's a rich history of litigation between Kodak and Apple, but digital imaging went mobile all the same. Kodak now makes iPhone lens accessories.

L: Leaks

Apple's corporate culture is among the most secretive on the planet -- it's a wonder any of its secrets leak, but they do.

M: Microsoft

It's fair to say competition between Microsoft and Apple defined the computer age. Today, Apple has the minds, Microsoft the numbers.

N: Napster

Apple's iTunes went up against file sharing to help honest people stay honest. People still steal music, which is probably why the charts are utterly bland.

O: Osborne

Osborne Computer Corporation introduced one of the world's first portable computers, the Osborne 1. Why did it fail? It didn't keep its secrets. Apple learned from this.

P: Psystar

Apple sued Psystar for making Intel-based systems that ran OS X in 2008. The case dragged on three years before the Mac maker won.

Q: Quinn Emmanuel

Quinn Emmanuel, Samsung's legal team, leaked confidential court-protected Apple/Nokia licensing details to…Samsung. A recent court decision suggests Apple may sue.

R: RIM

Once the smartphone market leader with its BlackBerry devices Canada's RIM now seems a spent force.

S: Samsung

If imitation is flattery, Apple executives probably see Samsung as the most flattering of all their foes.

T: Tramiel

Jack Tramiel (deceased) was one of Apple's first big PC competitors with his widely loved Commodore machines. He once had the chance to buy Apple for $100k.

U: United States

Apple enemy, Amazon, laughed all the way home when the United States Department of Justice convicted Cupertino of collusion in eBook pricing, AAPL execs are definitely unhappy at the DOJ's heavy-handed oversight.

V: Vaporware

Every time a competitor's stock climbs on strength of vapourware news of non-existent products, an Apple executive in the r&d department probably cries.

W: Wozniak

Ha! Bet that shocked you! Steve W. may not say too much that's nice about Apple nowadays, but let's face it, W is for Windows. What else?

X: Xbox

Steve Jobs announced Bungie would ship a Mac-only game called Halo at Macworld 1999, but Microsoft acquired Bungie the following year to ship Halo as Xbox-only: Cold revenge in Apple TV?

Y: Yocam

More a Steve Jobs enemy, Del Yocam was the first Apple exec to side with CEO John Sculley during the meeting at which Jobs was ousted from Apple.

Z: Zittrain

Harvard's Jonathan Zittrain has strong opinions against Apple hardware, calling these "sterile appliances tethered to a network of control."

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