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Mark Papermaster returns to chip business courtesy of Cisco, Apple silently watches
We don't blame you if you fail to recognize this good looking fella. Just a quick recap: this is Mark Papermaster, the ex-IBM chip designer who stirred up a storm while transitioning to Apple, only to quietly depart the company 16 months later for reasons that we'll never truly know. Fear not though, folks, as word has it that the boy is back in town: Papermaster is now hanging out with Cisco's Silicon Switching Technology Group as its new vice president. Ironically, our man here will be responsible for making chips that power Cisco's switches, so it'll probably be more or less like his good old days back at IBM. Oh, and without Steve Jobs breathing over his shoulders.
WSJ: Apple moving into chip design
Papermaster. Drebin. Koduri. A law firm specializing in intellectual property? The backcourt starters for the Toronto Raptors? Three key graphics-chip experts now all on the Apple payroll? If you had option C on your answer card, congratulations: now you get to join the WSJ and Forbes in reading the tea leaves about what Apple's dream team of silicon-savvy engineering talent will be building in the secure labs deep in the dwarven mines under 1 Infinite Loop.Apple's body-snatching spree, particularly focused on veterans of the GPU team at processor maker AMD, aligns with the purchase of PA Semi last year in expanding the company's hardware design capabilities. While there's no Apple product yet on the market featuring chips designed by the new squadron, the expectation is that future iPhones and mobile devices will benefit from Apple-only silicon; graphics capabilities built into these new and exclusive chips would be, presumably, unmatchable by competitors in the mobile space.The WSJ notes that over 100 LinkedIn profiles for chip engineers who recently worked at Samsung, Intel or other hardware companies now indicate they are sporting Apple employee badges (yay for transparency!). With the current economic climate triggering layoffs and shrinkage at many high-tech enterprises, Apple's combination of marketplace strength and Scrooge McDuck-esque giant pile of cash is allowing it to build a brain trust in hardware that rivals its legendary software expertise.What kind of super iPhone or magic Mac do you think will be built around these chips and this team?
Mark Papermaster begins work at Apple on April 24th, for real this time
Well, it looks like the long saga of Mark Papermaster's transition from IBM to Apple is now finally drawing to a close, with the two companies each issuing press releases today announcing that the pesky legal issues have been resolved and that Papermaster is cleared to begin work on April 24th. He'll be replacing Tony Fadell as head of Apple's iPod and iPhone hardware engineering teams, and will boast the title of senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering, reporting directly to Steve Jobs. Dueling press releases are below.Read - Apple, "Mark Papermaster to Begin at Apple as Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering on April 24"Read - IBM, "IBM Resolves Lawsuit against Former Employee Mark D. Papermaster"[Via Mac Rumors]
Papermaster hire on hold; IBM wins injunction
Apple's quest to replace outgoing iPod and iPhone VP Tony Fadell has run into a major roadblock: a federal district judge has granted IBM an injunction, forbidding former IBMer Mark Papermaster from joining Apple's ranks, at least for now. The story is a classic HR nightmare. According to a timeline at Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog, once he was offered a "once in a lifetime" position at Apple, Papermaster indicated he was going to resign at IBM. IBM executives then offered Papermaster a "substantial increase" in pay to entice him to stay. Papermaster declined, and quit. The next day, IBM filed their suit with the Southern District of New York, alleging that Papermaster is in violation of the non-compete clause of his employment contract. Papermaster claims in a counter-filing that Apple and IBM are in two totally different businesses: The former a consumer products company, the latter a high-end server manufacturer. Uh huh. Pundit Robert X. Cringely speculates that tapping Papermaster for the iPod/iPhone job was duplicitous, and Apple intends to move Papermaster into the lead position at the newly-acquired PA Semi division once the yearlong non-compete clause of his IBM contract expires. Apple said in a statement to Reuters that Apple "... will comply with the court's order but are confident that Mark Papermaster will be able to ultimately join Apple when the dust settles."
Apple's new iPod chief ordered to stop working
Apple's poaching of Mark Papermaster from IBM to run the iPod division is getting more dramatic by the day -- the court on Friday ordered him to stop working at Apple while it sorts IBM's lawsuit against his hiring. For his part, Papermaster (seriously, what a great name) says he left IBM with good intentions and that he kept his old company fully aware of what was going on before he was hired -- a statement supported by the fact that IBM let him keep working for two weeks after he accepted the Apple gig instead of escorting him out of the building. We'll see how this plays out -- although Steve personally handcrafts every iPod out of a kitten, he does lean on his exec staff to keep the Benz washed and waxed. Read - Papermaster ordered to stop working Read - Papermaster says leaving was legit
Two Apple VPs exit to -- you guessed it -- spend more time with family
According to a press release issued by Apple this morning, two Apple vice presidents are leaving the company for personal reasons, "as they devote more time to their young family." iPod division senior vice president Tony Fadell and his wife, Danielle Lambert, vice president of human resources, will "reduce their roles" at Apple. Lambert will stay until the end of the year to transition to a successor. "Tony and Dani have each made important contributions to Apple over the past eight years. We're sorry to see Dani go, and are looking forward to working with Tony in his new capacity," said Steve Jobs in the press release. Former IBM chip executive Mark Papermaster will be joining Apple later this month to replace Fadell, and will gain the new title of Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering. He's expected to bring his 25 years of experience to Apple's server technologies, as well. Papermaster unfortunately arrives with some baggage: IBM filed suit against Papermaster attempting to forbid him from taking his knowledge of the Power chip architecture to other companies. IBM said in a statement to CNET that "Mr. Papermaster's employment by Apple is a violation of his agreement with IBM against working for a competitor should he leave IBM. We will vigorously pursue this case in court." [Via MacDailyNews.]
