14 DAY TRIAL // Bob Mansfield has been pulling himself away from executives duties within Apple Inc. since 2012, but the company’s management has struggled to keep him aboard.
His knowledge in chipset design is invaluable to the company, and Mansfield has been expressing his desire to focus on this particular segment for a while now, people with familiar with the matter said.
A report from 9to5mac reveals that his exit as an Apple executive had been planned long before the news agencies caught wind of the change.
Now, according to sources with knowledge of the change, Mansfield’s assignment to “special projects” under Apple CEO Tim Cook has seen his former duties get split between two Senior VPs, Dan Riccio and Jeff Williams.
Riccio will reportedly handle antenna design for Apple’s mobile division, while Jeff Williams will “assist” in overseeing management for the iWatch division, and other projects.
Apple recently made an official announcement, stating “Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of our wireless teams across the company in one organization, allowing us to innovate in this area at an even higher level.”
“This organization will also include all of our semiconductor teams, who have some very ambitious plans,” Apple said.
In fact, Mansfield will be particularly focused on the semiconductor teams, as Apple reportedly has “very ambitious plans” to eliminate Intel chips from its Macs.
Apple has been pondering the use of its A-series chips in computers for quite some time now, rumor has it.
Over the past two months, Mansfield has been “increasingly focused on chips (and some aspects of wireless),” according to people with internal connections at Apple.
Mansfield is also known to be on his way out of the company, as just last year Apple announced his retirement, only to end up paying him hefty bonuses to have him delay the leave.
Even when he ultimately steps out, people who are familiar with Mansfield’s thinking say he will never fully break off his ties with Apple.
According to a former Apple manager, the former SVP “really has the entire company’s best interests at heart.”