Apple Director of Graphics Architecture Is Second Chip Executive Hired Away by AMD

In other news, employees seek out the best job opportunities that fit their talents and salary requirements. Next up, Apple hires people from other companies because Apple offers the job opportunities and salaries they are looking for in a career.

Later, those same employees seek employment elsewhere in 1-5 years because this is the norm in technology careers.

Wow, jumping ship from a great innovative company to one that is struggling to make a profit - things must be very bad behind close doors at apple :confused:

AMD is an exciting place to work for these days, there's a bunch of new and groundbreaking designs AMD is pushing to the market and a lot of room for improvement - at Apple it's more focused on just one thing, the ARM architecture.

For chip engineers AMD is way more exciting than Apple. There's nothing really strange about this move. Great for AMD. :)

Let's see

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet, gone (2009 but officially 2011) primarily responsible for the release of Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. Board of Directors for Parallels, Inc.

S.V.P. of Software Engineering - empty since Serlet's (official) departure in 2011

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, responsible for 10.7 and 10.8, 2011+

S.V.P. of Retail Ron Johnson, gone (2000 - 2011), became CEO for JCP, recently fired from said position.

S.V.P. of Retail John Browett, April - October 2012, fired.

No current S.V.P. of Retail, position filled by CEO Tim Cook

S.V.P. of User Interfaces Began at NeXT in 1992, then Apple after acquisition in 1997. Promoted to S.V.P. in Jan, 2003. Headed OS X Aqua interface, then head of iOS development. Fired on Oct, 2012 alongside S.V.P. John Browett, due to rumored conflicts with other Apple departments.

Jonny Ive is acting S.V.P. for Design Interfaces since Forstall's departure.

V.P. of iPod Engineering Tony Fadell Feb 2001-Nov 2008, founded Nest Labs and "Nest" thermostat

V.P. of iPod Engineering Mark Papermaster vetted in 2007, hired in 2008. Bob Mansfield expressed disdain for Papermaster to then CEO Steve Jobs. Left Apple in August, 2010 in the wake of the iPhone 4 antenna troubles, however it was later reported he left due to "broader cultural incompatibility" and a loss of confidence from then CEO Steve Jobs.

S.V.P. of Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield, announced retirement on June 8th, 2012. Subsequently returned on August 27th, 2012 under Tim Cook, with reports indicating Scott Forstall's departure played a key role.

Director of Software then iOS Richard Williamson, 2002 - Nov, 2012, fired by Eddie Cue reportedly due to iOS 6's [failed] maps app, now with Facebook.

V.P. of Mobile Advertising Andy Miller, 2010 - 2011, reported directly to then CEO Steve Jobs.

Chief Microprocessing Architect Jim Keller 2008-2012, currently Corp. V.P. and Chief Architect for CPU Cores at AMD

C.T.O. of Graphics Raja Koduri, 2009-2013, returned to AMD

In recent years Apple has seen many executives and department heads come and go, some with no replacements.

What is going on???

Comments in red.

Let's see

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet, gone (2009 but officially 2011) primarily responsible for the release of Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. Board of Directors for Parallels, Inc.

S.V.P. of Software Engineering - empty since Serlet's (official) departure in 2011

Is this really empty? Didn't Craig Federighi, who you have listed below, fill this position?

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, responsible for 10.7 and 10.8, 2011+

S.V.P. of Retail Ron Johnson, gone (2000 - 2011), became CEO for JCP, recently fired from said position.

Johnson admitted he wanted to move on because he wanted a challenge. He had been running Apple retail since 2001; he was probably ready to do something different and JCP offered him a real challenge (and CEO position)

S.V.P. of Retail John Browett, April - October 2012, fired.

No current S.V.P. of Retail, position filled by CEO Tim Cook

S.V.P. of User Interfaces Began at NeXT in 1992, then Apple after acquisition in 1997. Promoted to S.V.P. in Jan, 2003. Headed OS X Aqua interface, then head of iOS development. Fired on Oct, 2012 alongside S.V.P. John Browett, due to rumored conflicts with other Apple departments.

Jonny Ive is acting S.V.P. for Design Interfaces since Forstall's departure.

Time will tell if Cook made the right decision in getting rid of Scott Forstall, but a lot of people seem to think it makes sense to have hardware and software design under the same leadership. And perhaps Ive wanted more responsibility, wanted to challenge himself more? It seems executives were in silos more under Steve than they are under Cook.

V.P. of iPod Engineering Tony Fadell Feb 2001-Nov 2008, founded Nest Labs and "Nest" thermostat

Fadell has said he (and his wife) were burned out. My guess is once the iPhone became the "it" product (and the iPod touch fell under the iPhone group) Fadell knew it was time to move on. Based on his comments about Forstall "getting what he deserved", one can assume the two did not get along, and perhaps that was another reason Fadell left.

V.P. of iPod Engineering Mark Papermaster vetted in 2007, hired in 2008. Bob Mansfield expressed disdain for Papermaster to then CEO Steve Jobs. Left Apple in August, 2010 in the wake of the iPhone 4 antenna troubles, however it was later reported he left due to "broader cultural incompatibility" and a loss of confidence from then CEO Steve Jobs.

S.V.P. of Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield, announced retirement on June 8th, 2012. Subsequently returned on August 27th, 2012 under Tim Cook, with reports indicating Scott Forstall's departure played a key role.

I think everyone would agree keeping Mansfield is a good thing. Though from what I've read he really was planning to retire (he's been with Apple since 1999), so the fact he stayed on indicates to me he was given the freedom to work on some really cool stuff. I'm excited to see what comes out of this new Technologies group.

Director of Software then iOS Richard Williamson, 2002 - Nov, 2012, fired by Eddie Cue reportedly due to iOS 6's [failed] maps app, now with Facebook.

V.P. of Mobile Advertising Andy Miller, 2010 - 2011, reported directly to then CEO Steve Jobs.

Chief Microprocessing Architect Jim Keller 2008-2012, currently Corp. V.P. and Chief Architect for CPU Cores at AMD

C.T.O. of Graphics Raja Koduri, 2009-2013, returned to AMD

his job title was CTO? I didn't know Apple used C-level job titles, except for CFO and COO when Cook held that position.

In recent years Apple has seen many executives and department heads come and go, some with no replacements.

What is going on???

Is the turnover/churn at Apple greater than the average for tech companies? Or large companies in general? If you're at a VP level in a company does it look better on your CV if you've been with the same company for 20-30 years or if you've moved around and held high level positions at multiple corporations?

Rats are always the first to leave a sinking ship.

That's because they are smarter than the other passengers.

What is it about Apple's corporate culture which causes brain drain?
As far as I know, increased turnover is usually caused by people being dissatisfied with their wages. So if this is a result of corporate culture, I would like you to elaborate on this. Just curious.

Well among the tech world Apple is known for pretty average salaries and an oppressive atmosphere. I think it's pretty clear why that wouldn't work without their leader around anymore. Who would want to put up with that?

Apple offers the...salaries they are looking for in a career.

You must not have applied there lately. Nothing like spending a full business day interviewing with different departments that can't tell you what they do, only to have the recruiter hang up on you when you share your current (already below market) salary, or try to brag about how great the stock program is. I don't know about your bank/landlord, but mine won't accept rent/mortgage payments in options.

What's going on? Lots of people are leaving all of a sudden? :(

Who are all these "lots of people" and is it any more than other tech companies?

Let's see

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet, gone (2009 but officially 2011) primarily responsible for the release of Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. Board of Directors for Parallels, Inc.

S.V.P. of Software Engineering - empty since Serlet's (official) departure in 2011

S.V.P. of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, responsible for 10.7 and 10.8, 2011+

S.V.P. of Retail Ron Johnson, gone (2000 - 2011), became CEO for JCP, recently fired from said position.

S.V.P. of Retail John Browett, April - October 2012, fired.

No current S.V.P. of Retail, position filled by CEO Tim Cook

S.V.P. of User Interfaces Began at NeXT in 1992, then Apple after acquisition in 1997. Promoted to S.V.P. in Jan, 2003. Headed OS X Aqua interface, then head of iOS development. Fired on Oct, 2012 alongside S.V.P. John Browett, due to rumored conflicts with other Apple departments.

Jonny Ive is acting S.V.P. for Design Interfaces since Forstall's departure.

V.P. of iPod Engineering Tony Fadell Feb 2001-Nov 2008, founded Nest Labs and "Nest" thermostat

V.P. of iPod Engineering Mark Papermaster vetted in 2007, hired in 2008. Bob Mansfield expressed disdain for Papermaster to then CEO Steve Jobs. Left Apple in August, 2010 in the wake of the iPhone 4 antenna troubles, however it was later reported he left due to "broader cultural incompatibility" and a loss of confidence from then CEO Steve Jobs.

S.V.P. of Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield, announced retirement on June 8th, 2012. Subsequently returned on August 27th, 2012 under Tim Cook, with reports indicating Scott Forstall's departure played a key role.

Director of Software then iOS Richard Williamson, 2002 - Nov, 2012, fired by Eddie Cue reportedly due to iOS 6's [failed] maps app, now with Facebook.

V.P. of Mobile Advertising Andy Miller, 2010 - 2011, reported directly to then CEO Steve Jobs.

Chief Microprocessing Architect Jim Keller 2008-2012, currently Corp. V.P. and Chief Architect for CPU Cores at AMD

C.T.O. of Graphics Raja Koduri, 2009-2013, returned to AMD

In recent years Apple has seen many executives and department heads come and go, some with no replacements.

What is going on???

Bertrand had been working for NeXT/Apple at nearly 20 years of service and wanted a break.

Federighi has taken over his duties.

Senior VP of Retail will most likely be revealed at WWDC

SVP Scott Forstall was never a UI guy at NeXT. He worked in AppKit along-side Ali Ozer under the leadership of Peter Graffanino. Scott worked his way into the iOS chief because his squad won out on solution, and his leadership on AppKit warranted a position bump.

Richard Williamson was a non-visible manager at Apple relative to the public. Two dozen other folks can do his job. No offense to Richard.

Papermaster was temporary from day one. He wanted a higher position of authority and didn't warrant it so he left.

Andy Miller was an acquisition merger position, required to stay for a year before leaving. He was waiting for the clock to tick down now that his start up was bought by Apple. He worked on the transition of tech to the Apple ecosystem, then left.

Jim Keller arrived from ATi after AMD bought ATi, saw an opportunity to work in SoC tech and now was hired back at AMD to oversee the handling of AMD big GPGPU and ARM system designs in their ecosystem. Same goes for Raja.

This is all typical of Silicon Valley. The yearly turnover rate at the major players is 30%+.

Loyalty is to who offers the biggest fluff story, salary and stock options. Those that stick around and are loyal tend to be the pioneers who see the greatest payouts, over time.