Wozniak: Android is a platform ‘for everyone’

Steve Wozniak

The co-founder and major shareholder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, said Google's Android platform would be more fit for purpose for the wider market than his old company's mobile operating system.

In an interview with De Telegraaf, Wozniak sang the praises of the Apple's flagship device the iPhone saying it had "very few weaknesses" and "when it comes to quality, iPhone is leading."

However, the outspoken tech guru admitted it was "not for everyone" and claimed the lock-in with having to use the iTunes store to open up many features was a massive hindrance.

Admittedly, Wozniak said Android didn't quite live up to iOS yet, but said it would be the winner in the long term, with more features for a bigger variety of customers.

In another revelation, Wozniak claimed Apple had a working model of the iPhone back in 2004 but held it back to ensure it was good enough to compete in the mobile space.

"Apple was satisfied with the quality but wanted something that could surprise the world," he said.

"If Apple comes with a new product, it must [be] a real breakthrough."

Although the iPhone's operating system iOS has been a major presence in the smartphone market, Gartner figures this month showed Android sales had overtaken it for the first time, accounting for 25.5 per cent market share in the third quarter of 2010.

The figures for iOS fell from 17.1 per cent to 16.7, but the Cupertino company took solace in the fact it had doubled iPhone sales year-on-year.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.