It’s a clear message that Forstall has been pinned with the blame.
Forstall’s inability to gel with the rest of the executive team is well known. In a BusinessWeek piece published last year, it was reported that Forstall had a particularly bad temper.
The piece alleges he “routinely takes credit for collaborative successes”, and “deflects blame for mistakes”. Most significantly, it reports other executives, including design legend Jony Ive, won’t attend meetings with Forstall unless Tim Cook is there.
Ive, who is responsible for the company’s design, will now move into human interface design. Ive and Forstall never saw eye to eye with software design, with the latter adopting an approach called “skueomorphism” that makes on-screen actions look more like real objects.
Ive, on the other hand, prefers a sleeker, cleaner look: expect that approach to come through in updates.
But Forstall’s departure wasn’t the only major announcement today.
Retail head John Browett will also be leaving the company. Browett’s appointment had been criticised and Apple’s decision is a sign they’ve recognised that.
“A search for a new head of retail is underway and, in the interim, the retail team will report directly to Tim Cook,” the company said.
“Apple’s retail organization has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level who will continue the excellent work that has been done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services for customers.”
