Along with this week’s surprising news that Scott Forstall is leaving Apple, Tim Cook also announced that Bob Mansfield is planning to stay with Apple for two more years. Just last June, Mansfield had decided that he was going to retire, but now he’s quickly decided he’s not ready to leave just yet, and will stay on to run a new Technologies unit.
Why the sudden change of heart? According to a new report, Mansfield and Scott Forstall haven’t gotten along too well, and when news surfaced that Forstall was on the way out, Mansfield decided Apple would be a lovely place to work at again.
Reporting for All Things D, John Paczkowski talked to a couple of people at Apple and found that Forstall’s departure was enough to sway Mansfield into staying.
“It wasn’t a him-or-me situation,” one source said of Mansfield’s return and Forstall’s ouster. “But, put it this way, I think Bob was much more willing to commit to two more years once he knew Scott was on his way out.”
Since the death of Steve Jobs, relationships between Scott Forstall and other Apple executives had grown tense. Mansfield was not a fan of Forstall’s confrontational management style and would only meet with Forstall if Cook was present to mediate. Jony Ive has also been reported to have a tense relationship with Forstall.
No one knows what Mansfield’s new Technologies unit will be doing, but Tim Cook has said repeatedly that Apple is pursuing some really cool innovations with processors. Hopefully Forstall’s firing means Bob and his gang will be able to whip up something truly breathtaking for future iPads and iPhones.
Source: All Things D
