Recently the main guy at Apple, iPhone guru Steve Jobs took medical leave, and while Jobs is away it appears he along with Apple have become a target of a scathing assault which says that Steve Jobs’ departure isn’t too far off, and that Apple is too closed.

According to an article over on Slash Gear, and by way of the Sydney Morning Herald, the global chairman and CEO of Netgear, Patrick Lo criticised Apple’s closed ecosystem and put the blame firmly at Jobs feet saying that Steve Jobs’ ego is to blame.

Lo also believes that Jobs departure from Apple is “probably not far away” and that once Jobs leaves the iOS giant will struggle against the Android platform with content partners becoming “wary” over Apple’s control.

Lo believes Apple’s downer on Adobe Flash is all down to Steve Jobs‘ ego and says, “What’s the reason for him to trash Flash? There’s no reason other than ego.” Lo also commented that Apple’s closed ecosystem only works due to Apple owning the market in many product categories such as MP3 players.

The Netgear CEO also likened Apple and Android to Betamax and VHS video, undoubtedly meaning Apple is the Betamax of the industry.

Have to say the comments are somewhat harsh, but Steve Jobs’ dislike of Adobe Flash is nothing new, while the assumption that Jobs will retire soon is, and unless Lo has some insider information no one else has then he’s purely speculating. I’m fairly sure even if Job’s left, Apple would still be in a strong position in the mobile space for a long time to come.