'Less arrogant' Apple now easier to work with

Apple has become "less arrogant" to work with since Tim Cook took over the role of CEO from the late Steve Jobs.

Going from the extreme of Jobs to the relative tepidness of Cook has caught the attention of France Telecom-Orange CEO Stephane Richard, who believes the company has changed since Jobs' resignation in August 2011 due to health problems.

Citing a shift in flexibility and a closer attention to the market and it's competitors, Richard was praising in Apple's change of personality, saying it was more compliant as a company.

“Apple has (become) more flexible, paying more attention to everyone else, probably a little less arrogant than they used to be,” Richard said.

Believing Apple under Cook to be "probably a little more under pressure," Richard said the idea was "quite nice" and as a consequence business has been smoother.

But Jobs, who had threatened to wage a "thermo-nuclear" legal war to keep clones off the market, came across as 100% Apple orientated, threatening to "destroy" Android for copying his mobile operating system.

Passion for the cause is always endearing to a stage, but Jobs tunnel vision for Apple and his subsequent dismissive nature to its competitors causes a wedge in the industry.

Cook is making a change according to Richard however, but still questioned whether the company could be toppled by its rivals.

With carriers looking towards new kids on the mobile block such as Mozilla and Windows Phone in the market, the industry is already bloated in Richard's eyes and is not large enough to support variety of platforms.

“There is probably not room for everyone,” he said. “But all of us hope that among those initiatives, at least one will be able to emerge as a third ecosystem.

“When you have a market with very steady players like Apple and Samsung, you need to have a ‘wow’ effect.”