Bob Mansfield’s Un-Retirement

John Paczkowski, reporting back in November 2012:

Then, following Forstall’s ouster, Cook suddenly announced that Mansfield has agreed to stay with the company in his new position for another two years. As one source close to the company told AllThingsD, “The timing of Bob’s return is not coincidental.”

To begin with, Mansfield was not a fan of Forstall’s confrontational management style, and sources said he generally tried to avoid the iOS exec. Indeed, Bloomberg reported last year that Mansfield would meet with Forstall only if Cook were present to mediate. I’ve heard many similar stories.

“It wasn’t a him-or-me situation,” one source said of Mansfield’s return and Forstall’s departure. “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.”

In short, Apple’s press release announcing Forstall’s departure was pretty much the straight dope: “Apple Announces Changes to Increase Collaboration Across Hardware, Software & Services”:

Apple today announced executive management changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams. As part of these changes, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will add more responsibilities to their roles. Apple also announced that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim.

★ Monday, 11 May 2015