Schmidt and Genentech chairman Arthur Levinson both sit on the boards at Apple and Google; something US authorities are investigating under anti-competition laws.
Schmidt said that when Apple's board discussions turn to the iPhone he excuses himself and that he has not considered resigning due to conflict of interest.
"From my perspective I don't think Google sees Apple as a primary competitor," he said. Speculation is mounting, however, that Schmidt may stand down to avoid turmoil.
Meanwhile Google co-founder Sergey Brin said he is optimistic about the future of Google, despite the firm recently announcing its first decline in profits since going public.
"I am optimistic about the future, because I believe scarcity breeds clarity," he wrote. "it focuses minds, forcing people to think creatively and rise to the challenge. While much smaller in scale than today's global collapse, the dot-com bust of 2000-2002 pushed Google and others in the industry to take some tough decisions - and we all emerged stronger as a result."
He also said significant improvements are still to be made to Google's ad services.
"While our ad system has powerful features, it is also complex, and can confuse many small and local advertisers whose products and services could be very useful to our users," continued Brin.
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