Scott Forstall and John Browett leaving Apple

[xxMATTGxx]

Interesting move by Apple:

Apple has just announced a major executive shake-up: Senior VP of iOS software Scott Forstall is leaving Apple at the end of the year — he'll be serving in an advisory role to CEO Tim Cook until his departure. Additional executive changes include the departure of retail head John Browett, with Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi being tapped for additional responsibilities.

To make up for the departure of Forstall, Jony Ive will now provide leadership and direction for human interface across the entire company — it sounds like Ive will be getting a major opportunity to bring his famed hardware design sensibility to Apple's software. Eddie Cue, who has been responsible for Apple's digital storefronts, will get increased responsibility in the form of Maps and Siri. Obviously, that's a major challenge for Cue to take on, and it isn't unreasonable to think that the failure of iOS 6 Maps at launch may have directly lead to his removal as iOS VP.

Craig Federighi, who previously served as VP of Mac software, will now be in charge of both iOS and OS X. Apple says this move will help unify software strategy across the two platforms; it sounds like he'll be the one most responsible for assuming Forstall's duties. Finally, VP Bob Mansfield — whose retirement was announced earlier this year before he announced his intentions to stay on in a less defined role — will head up a group known as Technologies, with a focus on semiconductor and wireless hardware.

As for John Browett, Apple's Senior VP of retail is out after less than a year on the job. There's no word as to why he left (or was dismissed), but Apple says that a search for a replacement is underway. In the meantime, the company's retail team will report directly to Cook. All told, removing Browett and Forstall from Apple is a significant shake-up, as Forstall was a huge component behind the rapid rise and success of the iOS platform. Adam Lashinsky, author of Inside Apple, theorized on Twitter that Forstall was the "DRI" — directly responsible individual — for Maps and Siri, and thus "paid the price" for Apple's troubles with those two key iOS features. The DRI model was one that Steve Jobs believed strongly in during his role as Apple's CEO, and it looks like the concept lives on under Tim Cook's direction.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3...-leaving-apple

[GommeInc]

Hmm, I wonder what the reason is behind Browett's departure? It seems like something personal than because of something specific, considering Forstall seems to of taken the responsibility of Maps and Siri, although both of those two features weren't really introduced that badly. If anything Maps became a viral success, Google Maps had a few teething problems afterall As for Siri, what is bad about it?

[xxMATTGxx]

Hmm, I wonder what the reason is behind Browett's departure? It seems like something personal than because of something specific, considering Forstall seems to of taken the responsibility of Maps and Siri, although both of those two features weren't really introduced that badly. If anything Maps became a viral success, Google Maps had a few teething problems afterall As for Siri, what is bad about it?

Came across this in regards of John:

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/10/...g-on-the-wall/

[GommeInc]

Hmm, it seems like the recruitment controversy is the reason. Dixons is an interesting company. I can sort of see why they hired him from what I've learnt of Dixons (it's strange, ever since Dixons was mentioned as the case study for my current module it appears everywhere ). He had quite a lot of ideas as CEO of Dixons but didn't have the right people to drive his ambitions forward. In theory the employees at Dixons are all meant to be trained how to use each new product and the company itself puts products through rigorous testing. They are also trained to deal with each customers individual needs, but I haven't been in one for a long time to really know this. They seem to be improving recently on face value (a quick in then out while rushing around), but that's probably the £300 million injection to get things done.