And by senior executive, we all mean the same position held by the man who invented the Apple iPod. We all know that Tony Fadell left the company about two years ago for reasons that are still pretty much difficult to pinpoint –though publicly, Fadell announced that his decision was personal (he wanted to spend more time with his wife and also wanted to focus on the things he wanted to do).
Anyway, when Fadell left, Apple had a long list of potential replacements, and among them, one stood out, Mark Papermaster. While hardly the man on top of the list, Papermaster was the ultimate go to guy when it came to the several of Apple’s biggest moves. However, the fact that he had to take on the post of the iPod maker meant that expectations would always be a lot higher than he could achieve.
For various reasons, it has been announced that Mark Papermaster will be taking a bow and exiting on stage right as he resigns from his position at the Cupertino based company. The announcement just came out a while back and is considered to be linked to the antenna gate issue.
In light of the recent situation with the Apple iPhone 4 antenna, one could easily assume that Papermasters’ resignation was caused by it. And with the hardware issue being permanently unresolved –unless Apple is willing to lose money on it for recalls and repairs, this little blunder will leave a permanent mark on Papermaster’s career.
As for Steve Jobs and the rest of Apple, the company is still in denial about the whole issue –insisting that the antenna problem is an issue for the entire mobile industry and not just Apple. It will be a while before Apple is able to find a good replacement for the position; though we might to see the post being filled up before the end of the month.
Tags: Apple, Apple-iPhone, Mark-Papermaster