Wow. Lots of big news this week already: the new Google hardware, the Windows Phone 8 launch, AMD partnering up with ARM, and now this.
According to both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, Apple iOS chief Scott Forstall has been fired after refusing to sign an open letter apologizing for the ill-received iOS Maps app. Apparently, that particular disagreement was just the tip of the iceberg. The Journal elaborates:
Mr. Forstall’s departure came after mounting tension with members of Apple’s executive ranks. For years, senior executives had complained that he wasn’t cooperative and showed off his close relationship with Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs.
Without Mr. Jobs to mediate, tensions between Mr. Forstall and other executives built, according to the people familiar with the matter.
The 43-year-old Mr. Forstall recently told people that there is no "decider" now that Mr. Jobs is gone, according to a person briefed on the conversation.
Yikes. Apple’s press release announcing the shakeup doesn’t go into much detail, though. It simply says OS X chief Craig Federighi will take over iOS development, while Forstall "will be leaving" next year and "will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim."
Oh, and Apple retail chief John Browett is leaving the company, too. The Times attributes Browett’s departure (which it calls a firing) to a "number of missteps." Those missteps included "the faulty implementation of a new staffing formula that cut some employee hours too severely," in the words of the Wall Street Journal. Browett had only been at the helm of Apple’s retail operations since April.