Corporate

Senior Apple execs get a pay raise

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

Tim Cook's CEO salary for the calendar year 2012 was $4.17 million, which includes a $1.36 million salary and $2.8 million in compensation related to incentive plans, reveals a document Apple filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Now, a bunch of media outlets pointed out that Cook's salary dropped 99 percent versus 2011. Such sensationalist reporting couldn't be farther from the truth.

Cook's $376 million compensation in 2011 and $52 million in the year before was given to him in stock options and these won't vest until 2016 and 2021.

So yeah, Cook's 'salary' did drop 99 percent this year versus 2011, but without stock awards (his base salary last year was $900,000). The filing also reveals the company gave a pay raise to a select few members of its executive team to reflect their increased responsibilities following the departure of SVP of iOS software Scott Forstall, announced in October...

Sprint confirms plans to acquire 100 percent stake in Clearwire for $2.2 billion

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 17, 2012

Confirming last week's rumor, carrier Sprint Nextel Monday morning announced plans to buy out the minority of shareholders of Clearwire in a transaction valued at approximately $2.2 billion. The acquisition will give Sprint, which in October acquired a controlling stake, a 100 percent ownership stake in the Bellevue, Washington-headquartered provider of mobile and fixed wireless broadband communications services. The deal also bodes well for Japan's Softbank, which in October bought a 70 percent stake in Sprint. Softbank has also been eyeing Clearwire since then and with this transaction it will basically control Clearwire through Sprint...

Project Azalea: a $10 billion Apple mobile chip plant

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2012

We've suspected for a while now that Apple's been making moves ultimately aimed at taking its chip contract elsewhere. Clearly Apple ain't interested (any longer than it needs to) in letting Samsung enjoy an early peek at the technological solutions developed for the engine that drives its iPhones and iPads.

Currently, all of Apple's in-house designed A-series processors are being built exclusively by Samsung in its $14 billion chip plant in Austin, Texas.

The iPhone maker was also rumored to be contemplating a switch to Intel's x86 mobile chips for iPads, as outrageous as the very thought of it may seem.

But what if Tim Cook and his newly-minted chief of Technologies and long-time hardware expert Bob Mansfield have a radical solution in mind? A report Wednesday has it that the California firm could be seeking to invest up to ten billion dollars into a dedicated chip fab in New York, presumably in order to take control of its silicon destiny...

Sprint in active talks to acquire the remaining 49 percent of Clearwire

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

Despite a strong opposition from AT&T, the nation's third-largest carrier Sprint Nextel mid-October announced its intent to control Clearwire, where it had a 48 percent stake, by gain control of its board via agreements with Clearwire's investors. A few days later, Sprint bought out one of Clearwire’s shareholders to increase its 48 percent stake to a controlling 50.8 percent stake. And now, according to the Wall Street Journal, the wireless carrier is moving to acquire the remaining 49 percent of Clearwire it doesn't own yet...

Google getting rid of Motorola’s set-top box biz to focus on phones and Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 10, 2012

It is no secret that no one has cracked the code to the perfect TV yet. As multiple vendors fight for the living room with no clear leader in sight, the search monster's Google TV platform is floundering and Apple's $99 Apple TV hockey puck is still deemed a hobby business, despite sales in the first six months of 2012 doubling to 2.7 million units, almost equalling the 2.8 million Apple TVs moved in the entire 2011.

And as the prospect of an Apple-branded standalone HD TV set continues to occupy the brightest minds in the industry and Hollywood, rival Google is looking to sell off the cable box division of Motorola and has already received a few offers last week. But why is Google willing to drop Motorola's set-top box business in the first place?

Garage sale: ailing Panasonic, Sharp, Sony sell off $3B worth of property

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 10, 2012

You can put Panasonic, Sony and Sharp on your list of once mighty Japanese consumer electronics giant that are now forced to sell off billion dollars' worth of property in an embarrassing move deemed absolutely unavoidable if these dinosaurs want to survive winter. Panasonic, the maker of the Viera brand of TVs, was previously reported as wanting to exit the television business to focus on churning out displays for portable electronics, especially Apple’s iPad.

These days, the company is working to raise $1.34 billion from offloading property and shares in other Japanese companies by end of March 2013, Reuters reported Monday. We're talking land holdings, plants and even a 24-storey staff dorm in central Tokyo which has more than 47,300 square meters and houses about two thousand workers. Sony and Sharp, once the biggest names in electronics, are planning to follow suit...

Cook on firing Forstall: we needed to take collaboration to another level

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

As we're counting down the remaining hours until Tim Cook's first television appearance due at 10pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific, Bloomberg Businesweek's Josh Tyrangiel had way too interesting fireside chat of his own with Apple's boss, resulting in a massive 11-page article. Cook spoke about the shake-up and ouster of long-time Jobs confidant and iOS architect Scott Forstall, describing the decision as a matter of taking collaboration at Apple "to another level".

He also praised the skill sets brought to the table by SVP of Internet Software & Services Eddy Cue, SVP of Technologies Bob Mansfield, SVP of Industrial Design Jony Ive and the recently-minted SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, all tasked now with addressing the different aspects of iOS and OS X that happened to be under Forstall's more or less direct control...

Who exactly is this Williamson guy anyways?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 30, 2017

News that SVP Eddy Cue fired Richard Williamson, the executive who oversaw the development of Apple's much-maligned mapping service, came out of nowhere and surprised even seasoned watchers.

But who exactly is this Williamson guy?

Not much is known of the executive. Apple didn't list him on its Leadership page and he ain't talking to the press. I did some good ol' digging on the Interwebs and managed to compile a quick backgrounder on the (un)lucky software engineer, here's what I found...

Another head rolls over the Maps debacle as Apple seeks advice from TomTom

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Eddy Cue, Apple's SVP of Internet Software and Services, is reported to have fired Richard Williamson, an executive who oversaw the team that created Apple's own and troubled iOS 6 mapping service. The development marks the second high-ranked management departure of an Apple executive over so-called Mapgate, following the ouster of iOS boss and Steve Jobs confidant Scott Forstall last month after a CEO apology over the glaring flaws in Apple's mapping software.

“We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make maps better”, Cook wrote in lat month's letter of apology. In an effort to win back trust of its users, Apple is now understood to be seeking outside help to fix Maps. Jump past the fold for the latest info...

Blame Apple’s crazy attention to detail for the iSpaceship delay

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple engineers agonize over every imaginable aspect of the company's products. Their attention to detail is legendary and all-encompassing, from packaging and unboxing experience to press releases and TV commercials to screws, wires and the specific snow white paint for the home button of the white iPhone. No detail is too small, no stone is left unturned.

So why should it be any different with a massive circular structure and the 176-acre campus, dubbed by the media iSpaceship and officially named Campus 2? As Cody told you, the project has been delayed until 2016. A spokesperson for the iPhone maker just issued an official statement, basically saying the company is designing Campus 2 the same way they'd build an iPhone...

Intel lets go of its CEO amid mobile struggles

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

Intel, the world's #1 chip maker, has been trying and failing for years to replicate its PC leadership status in mobile. Today, the company issued an unexpected update, saying its long-time CEO Paul Otellini will be retiring in May 2013. Though the semiconductor giant insists this is just "an orderly leadership transition", Otellini's successor has not been named and Intel said it will consider internal and external candidates for the job. Intel currently supplies processors for Apple's Macs, but that could change if the rumor-mill is to be trusted...

Why did Apple’s recently-minted hardware boss cash in $11M in stock?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

Dan Riccio, Apple's recently promoted Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, sold 20,726 shares of stock in the last two days. The transaction netted him a cool $10.7 million, with a thousand shares worth approximately half a million going to an unnamed charity. That another SVP of Apple is unloading shares (though he didn't touch his stock options) doesn't mean he's potentially being fired, as some critics have jokingly speculated...