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Let's take that second one first: Papermaster will replace Tony Fadell, who had been senior vice president of the iPod division. It's a title that really never did his responsibilities justice.
It was back in 2001 that he came to Apple [AAPL
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]with an idea and design for his own MP3 player that, once in the clutches of Steve Jobs, evolved into the iPod we know today. Apple has sold a quarter billion of these devices since, sealing Fadell as the father of the iPod and a Silicon Valley legend.
Note: Apple also announced that Human Resources VP Dani Lambert would also be leaving the company. She's married to Fadell, and the two apparently want to spend more time with their young family.
The Papermaster hire is far more intriguing. Before Apple had a chance to make its announcement, IBM [IBM
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]released a statement last week indicating that he was not only headed to Apple, but that IBM would vigorously pursue the matter in court, trying to enforce a non-compete clause, worried that he would share IBM secrets with his new employer. Good luck.
Non-competes are dicey here in California to begin with. It'll be even tougher for IBM given Papermaster's new responsibilities. At IBM, he carried a vice president's title and was a key chip guru at Big Blue. At Apple, he'll oversee music players and phones. Hardly "directly" competitive.
Further, Apple leapfrogged IBM's PowerPC architecture for Intel chips a few years ago, turning its back on IBM microprocessors. It'd be a strange move to steal an IBM chip guy for technology Apple's already passed over. Not to mention Apple's acquisition of chipmaker PA Semi, which again, cuts against the chip innovations from IBM.
But hey, all this chip talk and a new chip executive coming to Apple is noteworthy for another reason: It places Apple more under the purview of FBR's chip analyst Craig Berger who has been trying to cover the computer, music player and phone company even though it seems to be well outside his expertise area. (See my post from yesterday.) Maybe now he has a stronger argument to release his research on Apple? Nah.
Questions? Comments?
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