Apple's executive shakeup viewed as consolidation, not cause for concern

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited January 2014
Major changes to Apple's executive team surprised investors this week, but market watchers don't believe anything is awry with the company's management.

Gene Munster with Piper Jaffray said the changes announced by Apple on Monday seem to confirm that Jony Ive, the company's acclaimed designer, will be with Apple for the "foreseeable future." He believes Ive's expanded role should put to rest "a recurring investor concern of an Apple without Ive."

"This, combined with Tim Cook's nine years remaining on his contract with Apple, suggests the two most critical management figures will be in place for the longer term," Munster said.

The biggest change at Apple came with the departure of Scott Forstall, the company's former head of iOS software. Reports have indicated that Forstall was forced out for a number of reasons, including dissatisfaction with the new mapping software in iOS 6.

"Apple is consolidating leadership around core long term executives, and the probability that key management is committed to Apple appears to have increased," Munster said.

Forstall


Brian Marshall of ISI Group also isn't concerned about the departure of Forstall or John Browett, Apple's former retail chief whose short tenure at the company was not well received. While Marshall said he is "disappointed" that Forstall will no longer head Apple's iOS team, it doesn't change his current positive outlook for the company.

"If the company can be successful without Steve Jobs, it can be successful without Scott Forstall," he said.

And Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets believes the changes are a "natural evolution" for Apple as it pushes for more seamless integration across its devices. He sees Apple's management shakeup as a result of the company "pushing for new levels of future innovation."

In the departure of Forstall and Browett, Ive will head up a new Human Interface team at Apple, Eddy Cue will take over responsibility for Siri and Maps, Craig Federighi becomes head of iOS and OS X software, and Bob Mansfield will be in charge of Apple's new Technologies group, which will integrate all of its wireless teams, including semiconductor technologies.

Apple has said that Forstall will remain at Apple in the near term as an advisor to Apple CEO Tim Cook, though the position has been characterized as a "formality" intended to keep him from going to a competitor. A search for a new retail chief is also underway, and in the interim the responsibilities will fall to Cook.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 65
    drdbdrdb Posts: 99member
    The fact he was head of Dixon's wasn't even the first clue to why he was a bad choice. The fact he was a British manager was the first clue (and I speak as a Brit). British management is some of the worst in the world. Self-replicating, driven by making pointless changes to 'make their mark' and unnecessarily combatative with their staff they have driven British industry into the ground for decades.
  • Reply 2 of 65
    haarhaar Posts: 563member
    the comparisons to Steve Jobs are amazing... when Steve Jobs was ousted at the original Apple he was going to be kept around as an "advisor" but he didn't want too... because he had no power IMO (Just a figurehead with a desk)... As described in Walter Isaacson's book...
  • Reply 3 of 65
    emig647emig647 Posts: 2,455member


    Apple still has a ton of momentum. As a Mac / iOS developer, I view this as a chance, a shot in the arm to rejuvenate iOS and push the UI on both operating systems to new levels. I haven't been this excited with Apple in a while.


     


    Note: in before TS posts!!! That's some kind of achievement. 

  • Reply 4 of 65
    Scott is NO Steve !

    Every company changes out personnel when management changes. Either the emps don't like the new management or management has different goals that the emps don't want to follow. You just don't want to keep people who are going to undermine you the entire time.

    Most of the time they are contracted to stay on for a while during transition to make sure all questions are answered. This is nothing new.

    The departure of Scott is a great thing for Apple as he was getting too arrogant for his position. Things were not quite coming together (maps).

    I'm excited about the future of Apple more so then before.

  • Reply 5 of 65


    Anyone ever notice Scott was the only individual that ever used a script while presenting?  How hard is it to know your product?

  • Reply 6 of 65

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by drdb View Post



    The fact he was head of Dixon's wasn't even the first clue to why he was a bad choice. The fact he was a British manager was the first clue (and I speak as a Brit). British management is some of the worst in the world. Self-replicating, driven by making pointless changes to 'make their mark' and unnecessarily combatative with their staff they have driven British industry into the ground for decades.


    you do realize Jonny Ive is British right?

  • Reply 7 of 65
    mj1970mj1970 Posts: 9,002member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markm929 View Post


    Anyone ever notice Scott was the only individual that ever used a script while presenting?



     


    You almost certainly wrong. Even Steve used a script. I'm sure the others do also. They may  just be better at hiding it. That only speaks to Scott's experience and smoothness in public speaking.

  • Reply 8 of 65
    While I am happy to hear that a designer of Ive's calibre is going to head UI at Apple, I think it will take some time to see how well his industrial design experience maps to UI design. The disciplines are related, but they do not overlap significantly. There is a lot of cognitive psych that goes into UI, and I'm not sure it can be seen as purely a design endeavor.

    I hope that we aren't seeing some unraveling at Apple; it will take 12 - 18 months to really know.
  • Reply 9 of 65
    Watch "Are You Being Served?" on PBS one evening and you will learn everything you need to know about British management.
  • Reply 10 of 65


    Originally Posted by markm929 View Post

    Anyone ever notice Scott was the only individual that ever used a script while presenting?  How hard is it to know your product?


     


    Anyone ever notice how completely and utterly wrong you are? Steve used a script every single time.

  • Reply 11 of 65

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by drdb View Post



    The fact he was head of Dixon's wasn't even the first clue to why he was a bad choice. The fact he was a British manager was the first clue (and I speak as a Brit). British management is some of the worst in the world. Self-replicating, driven by making pointless changes to 'make their mark' and unnecessarily combatative with their staff they have driven British industry into the ground for decades.


    speaking as an ex-Brit - that generalization about british managers, just like any racial or ethnic generalization is silly. Just because he came from Dixons doesn't mean he would be bad either, but if Apple knew that he had a significant part to play in the way Dixons did their business, then it was odd that they hired him. To anyone in the USA not familiar with shipping at Dixons, its like a small best buy but without any of the redeeming features (!?!)

  • Reply 12 of 65

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AZREOSpecialist View Post



    Watch "Are You Being Served?" on PBS one evening and you will learn everything you need to know about British management.


    aha - perhaps in the 1970's - 

  • Reply 13 of 65
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Right_said_fred View Post




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AZREOSpecialist View Post



    Watch "Are You Being Served?" on PBS one evening and you will learn everything you need to know about British management.


    aha - perhaps in the 1970's - 



    Okay, well, watch The Office, and you'll know all about American management...


    No country has the exclusive license on inappropriate lunkheadedness.

  • Reply 14 of 65
    drowdrow Posts: 126member
    John Browett got canned? couldn't happen soon enough. best wishes in his future ditch-digging work.
  • Reply 15 of 65

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Richard Getz View Post



    Scott is NO Steve !

    Every company changes out personnel when management changes. Either the emps don't like the new management or management has different goals that the emps don't want to follow. You just don't want to keep people who are going to undermine you the entire time.

    Most of the time they are contracted to stay on for a while during transition to make sure all questions are answered. This is nothing new.

    The departure of Scott is a great thing for Apple as he was getting too arrogant for his position. Things were not quite coming together (maps).

    I'm excited about the future of Apple more so then before.


     


    I agree with you.  Forstall was a lieutenant with his own set of strengths and weaknesses, but Jobs was completely off-the-charts one-of-a-kind.


     


    That said, Jobs wasn't 100% right 100% of the time.  The biography surprised me about how seriously wrong Jobs was about iTunes on Windows and how much effort it took for clearer heads to prevail.  With that in mind, it seems plausible that Jobs was also wrong about Forstall and Tim Cook has decided that now is the time.  As an Apple enthusiast and investor, I have no misgivings at all about this move.

  • Reply 16 of 65
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    He sees Apple's management shakeup as a result of the company "pushing for new levels of future innovation." I really hope so!
  • Reply 17 of 65
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by boredumb View Post


    Okay, well, watch The Office, and you'll know all about American management...


    No country has the exclusive license on inappropriate lunkheadedness.



     


    The Office, a show that originated in Britain and has been wildly popular in the US, shows that management styles between countries aren't so different. I've had good and bad managers from all over the world.

  • Reply 18 of 65
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member


    Glad to see Gene Munster impression, but Briand White is a clown, he is blindly bullish on Apple no matter what.  I would like to see what Shaw Wu thinks about it too. 


     


    Cant wait to see where the stock will go, Apple is sold out of the ipad mini, the ipad 4 and the iphone 5 and yet the 2 exec move is probably going to tank the stock.  Seriously if this keep falling off and we get below the 200 DMA I will sell every single stocks I own and get into Apple. No way that good is bad and bad is good trading tread is going to hold in the long run.


     


    In other news, Amazon PE is now over 3000+, it keeps dumping hardware at cost, its losing money by the truck load and yet the stock rally up. We must be near the end of world or something, people have gone insane.

  • Reply 19 of 65
    The clear reason is his striped shirts! Black mock T-neck or a tee - that's it! ;-)
  • Reply 20 of 65

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by haar View Post



    the comparisons to Steve Jobs are amazing... when Steve Jobs was ousted at the original Apple he was going to be kept around as an "advisor" but he didn't want too... because he had no power IMO (Just a figurehead with a desk)... As described in Walter Isaacson's book...


     


    Amazingly shortsighted, I think. Here' why I say that:


    http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/153886/forstalls-firing-reportedly-met-with-quiet-jubilation-at-apple/80#post_2222859

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