Steve Jobs vowed to "destroy Android" according to biography

Steve Jobs doesn't like Android and considers the mobile OS to be Apple's main competitor. It was apparent in the Q4 2010 earnings conference call when he discussed the mobile operating system and berated competitor's adoption of the 7-inch tablet. And this same hostility is very apparent in his biography.

According to the Associated Press, which got an early look at Walter Isaacson's upcoming biography, Jobs reportedly said this about Android,

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.

This hostile statement was a response to the introduction of an HTC handset in January 2010 that was similar to the iPhone; too similar for Jobs's liking. The Apple CEO reportedly met with Eric Schmidt to discuss what he called "grand theft." Jobs told Schmidt he wouldn't accept any settlement, even if it was US$5 billion, and ordered the Google chief to stop copying the iPhone.

This excerpt sheds some light on that mysterious cafe meeting between Job and Schmidt that captivated the Internet for a short time last year. It also explains Apple's fierce legal battle against Android handset makers including Motorola, HTC and Samsung.

[Via Macrumors]