Finally. I was beginning to feel like something was wrong with the tech world, due to the lack of Apple versus Samsung news. Turns out the war between the two tech juggernauts wouldn’t even be a thing today if Tim Cook had his way. A report from Reuters says that the current Apple CEO never wanted it to be this way — but Steve Jobs did.

Tim Cook, who was then COO, was opposed to suing, mostly due to Samsung being a critical supplier of components for the iPhone and iPad. Analysts estimate that Apple purchased $8 billion worth of parts from Samsung last year. Steve Jobs (who was then CEO), however, wanted a “thermo-nuclear” legal war. He believed that was the way to keep all the clones off the market.

When top executives from Samsung visited Cupertino, Jobs and Cook complained about the original Galaxy S launching in 2010 with a similar look and feel to that of the iPhone. Even worse, it sported Job’s biggest enemy: the Android operating system. But when Samsung released the Galaxy Tab early the next year, Apple’s fears were confirmed. Samsung had no intentions of changing their designs. Apple, led by Jobs and despite Tim Cook’s opposition, sued Samsung in April of 2011.

I’m sure you all know what happened next.

[via Reuters, The Verge, image via thetaxhaven]