“Cisco announced Friday that it has hired Mark Papermaster, the former Apple executive who headed up the company’s iPhone and iPod division before reportedly being ousted in August,” Josh Ong reports for AppleInsider.
“After less than two years at Apple, Papermaster left his position at the Cupertino, Calif.-based iPhone maker. Apple announced his departure in August, but declined to say whether he left of his own accord or was asked to leave,” Ong reports. “With Apple having recently weathered the iPhone 4 antenna controversy, dubbed ‘Antennagate,’ pundits speculated that Papermaster had taken the blame for it.”
Ong reports, “However, sources told The Wall Street Journal that Papermaster’s departure came because of a ‘falling out’ with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. According to the report, Papermaster “had lost the confidence” of Jobs several months prior to his departure and was seen as incompatible with Apple’s corporate culture. The report also noted that Papermaster had joined Apple while Jobs was on sick leave and may have been ‘ill-prepared’ for Jobs’ return.”
Read more in the full article here.
The magical iPhone canibalized it’s daddy.
As Trump would say: “You’re Fired”.
As that British bitch would say, “You are the weakest link!”
Paper is so last century.
So Cisco and Apple share the iPhone brand name AND recycled execs!
Coming next summer – the movie blockbuster epic:
Batman versus The Papermaster
@MacBill:
I still prefer the Vince McMahon version! lol
“You’rrrrrreeee Fiiirrred!” LOL
I believe when he finally had to report to Jobs it was a “Paper, meet scissors” moment.
He’s going over to solve Cisco’s antennae problems.
Another instance of Jobsian megalomania firing people left, right & center. Has anyone asked why he was fired? There’s no proper explanation other than an insinuation that he might have been responsible for the antenna problems on the iPhone 4. Well let me just say that that issue was overblown by Android fanboy blogs. In my experience I never had a single dropped call. I think his removal was not thought through properly like a lot of recent Apple decisions dropping Xserve from its lineup.
@Balllmer’s left nut,
Of course Apple wouldn’t give a reason, but the most probable cause (based upon the quality of the sources reporting on it) was that Papermaster wasn’t as hands-on as Steve Jobs expects from people, even in his position. As CEO Steve Jobs is so hands-on that he picks all the songs in Apple’s TV commercials and every theme in Keynote (to name a few examples). He wanted Papermaster to be down in the phone labs and sitting down with the software engineers, but he was accustomed to the IBM culture of dictating from a corner office.
I’m sorry I cannot agree with your contention. Shouldn’t Apple of all companies in the technology field be results oriented? Has the iPhone 4 disappointed you in any way? 14.3 million units sold in the last quarter is indeed an affirmation of its design & manufacturing qualities. Was Mark Papermaster not employed to oversee exactly this metric? Then I cannot see how he has failed aside from touchy feely subjectiveness such as overseeing the process from his corner office. Bad decision making at Apple yet again.
Results areonly part of the story. Over time the wrong personalities can poison a department and kill any incentive. The same guy could fit into another environment and do well.
“Horses for Course”
Papermaster was of IBM vintage which is very corporate and very unlike Apple’s culture.
He’ll probably fit in well with Cisco since they are more like Big Blue.
Either way he is earning more than most of us here (except of course for B’s shivelled testicle, who after the recent stock sale announcement, will be able to afford daily brazilians to keep him as shiny as his head).
Papermaster is use to hiring consultants to do the job.
In Apple, none are available.. he would have had to find talent from within. Not that hard, he just couldn’t be bothered with it.
Wow… Apple can do no wrong. Steve picking the songs for all the ads is priceless micromanagement. Seriously, part of being in a position where you’re making decisions is actually trusting others’ who KNOW their job well to actually do it. Sure, Jobs may be good at micromanagement, but I guarantee you… the second he’s gone (as in dead) all the stories will come out of the woodwork… enough so that even MDN can’t continue to cover for him.
That’s Bevan Trump. (Owns a block of flats on the Hibiscus Coast)
I don’t buy the argument that Mark Papermaster was a dye in the wool IBM guy & as a result was a round peg in a square hole in Apple culture. He was after all SVP of manufacturing. You don’t just recruit a guy like that based on HR’s recommendation. Apple would have courted him as assiduously as SJ did when he recruited the ‘sugar water salesman’. Unlike Mr Scully he delivered. It’s all too easy to lay the blame on him for the antennagate fiasco. SJ cut short his trip to Hawaii & looked around for a scapegoat. MP was in his sights which as it turns out was wrong on so many levels.
BTW I have the greatest respect for Mr Scully. Read his autobiography for an understanding of the man.
Well Steve Jobs likes top notch people like himself. What’s wrong with that. That is how he built Apple to where it is now, can’t argue with that.
I’m sure it is not easy to fit that glove, but then Apple is the only company that continuesly delivers significant innovation. Others seem clueless.
Lose confidence in Steve Jobs? Hah! this guy must be the biggest fool ever. After what Jobs has done how can you not have confidence in him.
My friend is having a hard time finding a job by strictly applying on job boards.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/leanspa/leanspa/129557970435985
Paper master’s 2008 arrival at Apple was the subject of controversy. Apple had recruited Paper master away from IBM, where he served as VP of microprocessor technology development. IBM promptly responded with a lawsuit alleging Paper master was in violation of his non-compete agreement.
http://naturaldetoxsite.com/
@Ballmer’s left nut
Why do you think you have any clue? Decisions are made on many factors, never always seen by everyone. Jobs made a decision that really doesn’t affect anything important. So why judge it?