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Apple is hiring away Samsung employees working on next-generation technology, including signal- and visual-processing management, according to The Korea Times.
The report, citing unnamed officials at the South Korean tech giant, also claims that Apple has expanded its recruitment efforts to focus on Samsung personnel with expertise in battery technology amid rumors that it is working on an electric vehicle project.
"Some of our personnel have been hired by Apple. They now work at Apple's headquarters in San Jose, Calif.," said one official, adding that Apple offers highly-competitive benefits and large annual paychecks.
"Those former Samsung workers are given greater independence to proceed with their tasks. Apple prefers to use Samsung's chip experts because they are very diligent, mission-oriented and are prepared to acquire new knowledge," said another official.
Apple has reportedly assembled an automotive team with hundreds of employees working at a "top-secret research lab" near its Cupertino, California headquarters. Apple appears to be recruiting battery experts from multiple companies to join the team, as the company also faces a lawsuit for poaching key battery engineers from A123 Systems. That lawsuit also listed Samsung as one of the companies that Apple has been poaching battery engineers from.
Apple's appetite for hiring former Samsung personnel has expanded to the battery arena as the Cupertino-based company is reportedly developing electric vehicles, which means Apple needs battery experts. […]
"As the electric vehicle business is a new one, Apple needs patents and experts in battery technology. Top human resources firms have been approaching Samsung's battery experts, individually, and I think such human exchange moves are a win-win for both," said the official.
Earlier this month, multiple reports from credible sources claimed that Apple is working on an electric and possibly autonomous vehicle that could enter production in 2020. Some other reports, however, downplay the rumors by claiming that Apple is working on expanding its dashboard presence through CarPlay. Any electric car project at Apple is likely in the early stages of research and development at this time.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Tim Cook has just gone big.
Where are all those who criticised him 1-2 years ago?
It is interesting how just a few years ago people were questioning whether Apple needed to replace Tim Cook, there were rumors that the board was pressuring him to innovate faster etc. Heck just last month Engadet ran an article wondering when Apple became the boring one. Now with rumors of Apple doing R&D in the automobile space these same concern trolls are fearful that Apple is losing its focus, no longer believes in 'a thousand noes for every yes' etc. So basically no matter what Apple does it can't win. It's either too boring of losing focus.
Tim Cook has just gone big.
Still here. Big Concepts do not equate to Big Realization. I still have big $ bets on Apple and Cook but he has yet to fully prove himself as the successor of Jobs as an idea guy. We will get a better glimpse of that as the Apple Watch rolls out, and of course between 2015 and 2020 Apple needs to have other all-new products. It can't just depend on the iPhone. 2020 is a long time away in corporate fiscal years.Where are all those who criticised him 1-2 years ago?
He doesn't engender the cult of personality of Jobs, but so what? Jobs achieved success one way and Cook another. As a CEO, based on any quantitative data, I really can't think of any who've done a better job. Qualitatively, he hasn't done bad either. Neither Apple, Tim Cook, nor Steve Jobs is/was perfect; revisionist history notwithstanding. Comparatively speaking, CEO to CEO, I would put Cook's record against pretty much anyone else's.
To tie this back to the OP (apologies for the off topic rant), he is again demonstrating sound logic. Get the best battery people you can get to work on your EV. If rumor of the car is true, Cook is acquiring top level talent to try to make the project a more successful endeavor. He could have gone with the super secret double pinky swear in-house only route and more than likely failed. There's no guarantee the rumored project will be a success, but I doubt it will be because a lack of prep and planning.
TLDR; How many better CEO's are actually out there? What do people think a CEO's purpose is?
Sorry for length.