Apple SVP of global marketing Phil Schiller has unfollowed Twitter accounts of Nest Labs and its CEO Tony Fadell three days after the home-automation startup was acquired by Google for $3.2 billion.
Speculations are that the move to unfollow Fadell and Nest Labs on Twitter by Schiller might be the result of Fadell's decision to sell the company he co-founded, to Google, a move that gives the Internet search giant an exclusive access to its range of smart home hardwares and software assets.
However this is not the first time Schiller has expressed his dismay on a public platform. Schiller closed his Instagram account in 2012 when an Android version of the app was launched "It jumped the shark" was what Schiller tweeted. Schiller had also called Android a "cheap replacement for a feature phone" in the run-up to the launch of Samsung Galaxy S4.
Fadell is referred to as "the godfather of the iPod". The Nest Labs which he co-founded was also with a former Apple engineer Matt Rogers. In subsequent years the startup also made number of hires from Apple, including the former director of iPod software Bryan James and former chief patent counsel Chip Lutton, Jr.
Experts believe that Nest would have been a perfect acquisition for Apple, as its ties run deep with the Cupertino-based company and its products carried a similar design aesthetics. The firm's first product, the Nest Learning Thermostat was also launched in Apple Store exclusively in 2012. However, according to reports, it might be Fadell's feud with Apple Senior Vice President of Design Jonathan Ive that kept him away from returning to Apple.
Meanwhile, Schiller's public display of displeasure seems to have no effect on the Apple-Nest relationship as the startup's products continue to sell on the Apple online store.
