The Wall Street Journal is reporting some additional information regarding why Apple’s Senior Vice President of iPhone hardware engineering Mark Papermaster left the company. The report claims his departure was due to “broader cultural incompatibility” instead of the widely believed reason: the iPhone 4 antenna.
Exactly how much the problems with the iPhone 4 played in Mr. Papermaster’s exit is unclear. The iPhone 4, a key device for Apple, has been beset by issues such as antenna reception and delayed production of a white version of the gadget. Several people familiar with Mr. Papermaster’s situation said his departure was driven by a broader cultural incompatibility.
Mr. Papermaster had lost the confidence of Mr. Jobs months ago and hasn’t been part of the decision-making process for some time, these people said. They added that Mr. Papermaster didn’t appear to have the type of creative thinking expected at Apple and wasn’t used to Apple’s corporate culture, where even senior executives are expected to keep on top of the smallest details of their areas of responsibility and often have to handle many tasks directly, as opposed to delegating them.
One of these people also said Mr. Papermaster had difficulty maneuvering Apple’s internal politics.
Both Apple and Papermaster have remained tight-lipped on the reason for his seemingly sudden departure from the company.
Also worth noting, the report states that Steve Jobs was the one that pressed forward with the antenna design, which lifts some of the blame off of Papermaster. Additionally, the report claims that the iPhone 4 had been in testing for two years prior to it’s public launch, which is long before Papermaster arrived at the company in April 2009.
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