At a recent ‘Captains of Industry’ symposium sponsored by Business Week magazine Ellison talked about his company’s strategy, the future of technology, Bill Gates and Microsoft, as well as Apple.
Calling Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs “his very best friend,” Ellison said Jobs has brought Apple back from “flat lining” and is “very optimistic about Apple’s future” with its current products as well as the upcoming final release of Mac OS X.
“I think Apple can be the greatest provider of digital appliances in this market,” Ellison commented. “I think Apple’s biggest competitor is going to be Sony.”
When asked why Apple doesn’t currently make Internet appliances, Ellison said it was because Jobs didn’t have time to develop such products upon his return and had to concentrate on returning the company to profitability with desktop PCs. “It’s all well and good for me to have my fantasies on how the world is going to be five years from now. Steve had to make next quarter, and the quarter after, and the quarter after … Steve had to save the existing business before he could venture forth and could make differences.”
Larry Ellison has been CEO of Oracle Corp. since he founded the company in 1977. Ellison sits on the board of Apple.