Why Bob Mansfield Was Cut From Apple's Executive Team 100
colinneagle writes "AllThingsD reported that Bob Mansfield, Apple's Senior Vice President of Technologies, has disappeared from the executive management team at Apple. But it was only last October when Mansfield was widely reported to have been convinced to return from retirement by Apple CEO Tim Cook for a two-year stint. His return to the company may have been cut short on account of Apple's continued reliance on Samsung for its mobile SOC processors, for which Apple paid an estimated $10 billion to Samsung last year. Mansfield's group was to have played a major role in this, and apparently it has not been able effect this change."
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Apple cash : 10,746,000 [yahoo.com]
Intel's market cap: 115,690,000,000 [yahoo.com]
I didn't post this to prove you wrong - I was sincerely interested. You wouldn't believe the crazy things I've heard on the internet that turned out to make me money!
But, I posted my results just to boost my own ego is all.
Carry on....I have a pathetic little life....
Speculation? (Score:2, Insightful)
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Its all bundled into the last sentence:
It looks like Mansfield has been held accountable for the TSMC production glitches and the persistence of Apple’s dependency on arch competitor Samsung for its most strategic components - the SoC heart and brains of its mobile devices.
I agree its pretty thin.
However when you look at what Mansfield was actually brought back for: (From tfa quoting Apple)
"Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future."
It looks like it was semiconductors, Wireless, and other sources say the list includes the speculated Apple Smartwatch project as well.
Well, the all of those projects are in trouble. Apple has had yet another in their long line of wifi disasters and had to issue emergency patches [techradar.com] to the Air.
I suppose its not too hard to pick the biggest of these proje
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Maybe, maybe not.
All Samsung would have to do is buy a large block of TSMC stock on the China exchange directly from the major holders. (Perhaps for well above market value). Samsung could quietly influence a great deal of TSMC decisions without even appearing to have any connection. They might hold this stock in their name or the name of some sock-puppet friend in China.
The China and Korean exchanges are far less open for inspection they NYSE or NASDAC.
Bribery doesn't have to enter into it. No need to
Re:Apple just buy out Intel (Score:5, Informative)
Apple has $146 BILLION in cash as of last quarter. those numbers are old
$100 billion of it is outside the USA
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But then they'd have to pay tax on it. And you know what beancounters would think of that.
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Even with 25% repatriation taxes (no idea what they really are), they'd still have enough to buy it without debt.
But since they have huge cash flows, they could also probably buy the whole thing from debt only.
My guess is they buy TSMC and quadruple their production with the cash they already have.
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Well, the current market cap is what's known as the whole company's valuation. So it's a pretty good assumption.
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You might want to double check your numbers. Yahoo says it has 10,746,000,000 in cash. Yahoo reports in thousands of dolllars.
Which is 10% of Intel's market cap. Nothing to sneeze at, but still
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But personally, I think Apple buying Intel would be a travesty. Intel laid the foundation for personal computing (including smartphones) more than any other company. I realize Apple uses Samsung chips, not Intel, and that microprocessors would have developed a lot since the 1970s without Intel or any other single company. But still... for Apple to swoop in and make such an unheard of windfall by putting a pretty face on the technology that an entire industry has b
Re: Apple just buy out Intel (Score:2)
What winner take all approach? You mean like how Intel and Microsoft and even IBM colluded to shut Apple out of its small slice of pie using PowerPC for 2 DECADES?
Apple has cash to burn... If they wanna buy companies to burn um down that's how capitalism works!
I'm surprised Steve was as peaceful at the end as he was... Given that kind of money. I'd buy rival CEO's homes from the banks just to burn um down, let alone their companies.
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You can't read properly.
Apple has >141 BILLION dollar in reserve.
http://news.yahoo.com/apple-cash-hoard-focus-turns-innovation-160022075.html
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All numbers in thousands
That makes it a more reasonable but still short 10,746,000,000 to 115,690,000,000
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That makes it a more reasonable but still short 10,746,000,000 to 115,690,000,000
The ten billion is _cash_. Like stashes of bank notes and money in a current account. There is for example another 92 billion in long term investments, 20 billion in receivables, and a few smaller items.
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Apple has 145 billion dollars in cash and other liquid assets it could use for a buyout as of April supposedly. Tech crunch [techcrunch.com]
They had 120 billion dollars in long term investments as of October The guardian on 120 billion dollar investment strategy [guardian.co.uk]
The different in counting depends on what you're counting exactly as 'cash'. Your yahoo link gives apple as 176 billion dollars in assets, 15 billion of which are property 800 million as inventory, 1 billion in goodwill, and 4 billion in intangibles. There are
Re: Apple just buy out Intel (Score:2)
By 'cash' the OP of this comment meant money, not physical dollar bills in a savings account.
Apple has $10 billion in cash, yes, but they have very roughly $150 billion in cash+short term investments+long term investments. Most people refer to that number colloquially as Apple's cash.
So technically yes, Apple does have the means to completely purchase Intel at Intel's current market cap, but they would never make such a large acquisition.
Re: Apple just buy out Intel (Score:2)
They could burn it down and invite Microsoft! Who would Microsoft sell Windows to without Intel Processors? Technically not "monopolistic" either.
Re: Apple just buy out Intel (Score:2)
True, pedantically speaking Apple has $10 billion in cash. But also add "long term investments". These are assets that are easy to sell like stocks, bonds, etc.
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Apple cash : 10,746,000 [yahoo.com]
Intel's market cap: 115,690,000,000 [yahoo.com]
I didn't post this to prove you wrong - I was sincerely interested. You wouldn't believe the crazy things I've heard on the internet that turned out to make me money!
But, I posted my results just to boost my own ego is all.
Carry on....I have a pathetic little life....
Maybe everyone else is crazy who reports it but I know I've read Apple has over $140 billion in cash. Much of it is overseas and would be subject to taxation if brought back to US but that is a whole lot more than the $10+ billion you mention. In fact it is much more than the market cap for Intel you mention but I have doubts about that since it is from the same source.
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First, the number for Apple is in 1,000s.
Second, that's the September 2012 number. As of March 2013, it was $12 billion.
Third, you've got to add two additional lines to really understand Apple's cash horde. Because it would be imprudent to actually hold over $100 bilion in bank accounts, Apple holds both long-term and short-term marketable securities ($106 billion and $27 billion, repsectively). Those probably consist of various government securities and high-rated corporate bonds. For accounting purpos
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oops. the $145 billion was as of last March.
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I very much doubt that Apple will buy a business which would force Apple to get into an entirely new industry that is only marginally connected with Apple's core business. Intel's value is primarily due to supplying chips to an entire industry. So what would Apple get in turn for buying Intel? Cheaper pricing? The savings would hardly make up for the cost of purchasing Intel. Make Intel exclusively an Apple supplier? Even leaving aside the question of Intel's current obligations, this would mean throwing mu
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Another way to look at it (Score:5, Insightful)
Mansfield tried to retire in 2012. It's just possible he wanted out again and Tim Cook asked him to stick around and lend his expertise without the management responsibilities. It's the perfect semi-retirement: get rid of the tedious part of the job, work on the fun stuff, and continue to get compensated. I'd jump at an offer like that. Get removed from the management bio page? pfft.
Re:Another way to look at it (Score:5, Funny)
They kept pulling him back in.
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You can check out any time you like... But you can NEVER leave!
What is this SOC supposed to do?? (Score:2)
So why the f*** doesn't it do it????
-- ghost of Steve
Re:Another way to look at it (Score:4, Insightful)
It's just possible he wanted out again
It's also possible that he was happily retired and really didn't like Apple all that much but decided he'd come back for a while to help out an old friend.
Or...
He was getting kind of bored in retirement and it sounded like a fun way to spend some free time but then he realized he had forgotten how much corporate drama bullshit there was at Apple and now he's changed his mind.
Or...
Samsung wants him to come to work for them in Korea and this conflicts with Timmy boy's vision.
Just sayin.. As long as we're postulating... that road goes both ways. It's exciting how projection works, eh?
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"Samsung wants him to come to work for them in Korea and this conflicts with Timmy boy's vision."
Cook has vision? The fact that Apple has done basically nothing since Jobs died gave me the impression that this was the exact problem, that without Jobs, there is no vision at Apple.
Re:Another way to look at it (Score:5, Informative)
Jup, that’s what Gruber says: ‘Everybody Loves Bob’
http://daringfireball.net/2013/07/mansfield [daringfireball.net]
Quote: “Inside Apple, they seem surprised that we’d read juicy backstage intrigue into his simply being removed from their executive list.”
Re:Another way to look at it (Score:4, Interesting)
Yup. Apparently he's still working at Apple and this doesn't have anything to do with the stuff suggested in the summary. His staying on as a senior VP was always intended to be temporary.
In retrospect ... (Score:3, Funny)
... perhaps the lawsuit wasn't such a great idea? I believe it's likely the case that Apple needs Samsung. Also, the billion dollar lawsuit is like a tube of toothpaste in this scenario. Meaning that you squish one end only expands the other end (i.e. squishing does not change the volume if the cap is on).
This is tech news now. (Score:5, Insightful)
Talking about who's who at large corporations, and the monetary details of their jobs. I get that it matters, it just bores the hell out of me.
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Talking about who's who at large corporations, and the monetary details of their jobs. I get that it matters, it just bores the hell out of me.
Apparently it piques your interest enough to get you to post...
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Yes, no one is allowed to register their disinterest in anything ever. That only serves to demonstrate their interest, right?
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AllThingsD turned into AllThingsA quite some time ago.
Re:This is tech news now. (Score:4, Informative)
Speaking of DiceDot, I noticed that downloads from Sourceforge ending in .exe don't actually download the file, but instead download special "Sourceforge Installer" crapware instead. What really pissed me off was that it didn't work behind my university proxy. So not only do I not have access to the original .exe, but the installer that probably cost them hundreds of thousands to deploy doesn't give it to me either.
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Shopping for a sourceforge alternative will suck Got any recommendations?
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I think Git is your best bet, since Google Code doesn't allow downloads any more.
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I've got his trading card, you insensitive clod.
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What's boring about this story is background. Was Mansfield one of the guys who was more interested in lawsuits and making money, or was he one of the tech executives who was busy pushing things forward? I could look it up I suppose.
Other information (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Other information (Score:5, Funny)
or he has a contract and they put him into a room with an xbox until the contract expires
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Imagine having a successful career [wikipedia.org], probably enough options to do whatever he wants, and having to sit through endless board meetings about who's suing who this week after having tried to retire.
Congrats seem in order.
Pushing my glasses back with my finger . . . (Score:5, Informative)
In the summary, 'affect this change' [grrrrrr] should be 'effect this change'. It could have read 'affect the situation'.
Oh the humanity: I'm having flashbacks of my grade 8 grammar teacher thrashing us mercilessly for just such an offense. Twas eons ago and most of my grammar synapses have degenerated to dust but the affect/effect thingy persists.
I whimper.
8-P
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Indeed. Makes one's beard verily bristle...
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Exactamundo!
Verily and to wit! My bristling beard is scaring the cat.
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Whimper some more, because you are 100% incorrect -- that's right, you've got it exactly backwards. It should be "affect this change." "Effect" is a noun. Your grammar teacher is spinning in his/her grave.
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No guts, eh? Won't log in. What a putz.
'effect' may be used as a noun or as a verb.
From dictionary.com although a more detailed listing may be found in the OED:
verb (used with object)
10. to produce as an effect; bring about; accomplish; make happen: The new machines finally effected the transition to computerized accounting last spring.
Thus 'effect this change' is correct and in this case 'affect this change' is wrong. (changing the change, which BTW did not happen)
Go directly to grammer jail. Do not
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So ....
If it's 'worthless' why are you even bothering to read anything here, let alone comment? Anyways, my insult was directed at the original AC and his/her ignorant comment ---- not ALL AC commentators. Seemed very clear.
Anonymous commenting is fine by me but 'no guts' same same 'coward' as in AC . . .
Why you felt a need is beyond my ken.
Cheers
Re:Pushing my glasses back with my finger . . . (Score:5, Funny)
LOL. No.
You can affect a change - ie make a change to the change
You can effect a change - ie make the change happen.
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Too funny actually. I thought I would get modded for trolling but this be /.
Comments galore for a trivial grammar post but a score 5 insightful on a security thread merits no discussion.
's ok. Tis only the human condition to take small things to heart and let the large objects pass by. Need budget approval for $100K server capital; no problem. Need a $15 screwdriver kit from Canadian Tire to put the beasts in the rack? That requires a business case.
Cheers
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I always thought affect was something you did to yourself and effect wa something you did to something outside yourself?
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As a noun, "affect" means emotional state (more or less). As a noun, "effect" means result of an action. As verbs, only "affect" and "effect" have a clear semantic relationship, with the verb referring to the action and the noun referring to the result.
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But in the town it was well known that when he got home at night his fat and psychopathic wife would thrash him, within inches of his life...
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TSMC has issues? no way (Score:2)
i mean all the problems that nvidia has had with them over the years have all been solved
i'm not an expert, but over the years i've read enough to know that you can't just switch to a new fab at a whim. they all use slightly different methods to make CPU's and these are also dependent on the tools you use to design the chip. A few years back AMD had the same problems for months or years because some chip they designed wasn't compatible with the process at the Global Foundries or wherever they tried to make
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Re: TSMC has issues? no way (Score:2)
It's all about QUALITY. TSMC is firmly a second string player because they can't hit high-specs at near-perfect rates Every time. Intel and Samsung get to "hide" their startup failures in their personal R&D budgets... When you are "working the line" for somebody else you don't get that slack.
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No, it's not TSMC. They're the 1000-lb gorilla of the fabless industry and actually folks like Global Foundries will set up lines that try to copy TSMC's to steal business from them. I've got several products running in both TSMC and Global Foundries now that were designed for TSMC and sent to a GF line and in general for a huge SoC with a lot of mixed analog and digital content I've had relatively few issues (out in the 6-sigma range) with them. In general, the "issues" you're talking about with TSMC are w
Effect (Score:2, Informative)
and apparently it has not been able affect this change.
Effect dammit. There was no change to possibly be affected because there was no change done!
*grumble* grammarless *grumble* get off my lawn
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"to effect" damnit.
Yikes.
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Wow, just wow (Score:5, Insightful)
How the hell this qualifies as any kind of news is beyond me. This appears to be someone's tech blog where he's basically just talking out of his ass and pulling suppositions out of thin air, about something that just happened like 24 hours ago. Suppositions which by the way are not confirmed by the only further piece of information we have, which is the statement from Apple that Mansfield will be working on special projects. He was already announced to be retiring last year and was convinced to stay on a temporary basis. Why on earth would Apple hold one executive responsible for the failure of a third-party company to effectively compete with Samsung in making chips? It's just--I can't--what?
This article is full of all kinds of fail. How about we wait a couple of days until someone actually has some factual news to report? Why the fuck is everybody and his brother jumping all over this guy all of the sudden? I expect this sort of thing from Mac _RUMORS_, but here? What the hell, Slashdot?
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The Slashdot editors were slipping behind in their "posts mentioning Apple" quotas.
Better question: (Score:2)
Who cares?
We all know the real reason (Score:2)
“Oh, so I’m not allowed to mention the fact that he messily devoured a live salmon during a staff meeting?”
http://crazyapplerumors.com/2013/03/21/bob-mansfields-review/ [crazyapplerumors.com]
who gives a shit (Score:2)
its just a manager, not like they did anything important