Apple Maps Executive To Be Fired, Says Bloomberg

Apple Maps has been a black-eye on all iOS products ever since it came out and still stands as the most ­ridiculed and, sometime hated, Apple feature. Apple Maps disclosed secret-military bases, Bloomberg reports that Richard Williamson, the leader of the Mapping team at Apple was fired by his manager, SVP Eddy Cue. This has not been officially announced at this point.Eddy Cue is said to be taking over Apple Maps to look for solutions to solve the data discrepancies and other oddities reported by users. He is the person who lead iTunes in the early days. Among those solutions, Apple is said to be working with TomTom on how to correct these issues. Despite the complaints, people still seem to buy the iPhone 5 at a healthy pace, although it is impossible to tell if the Map issues did cost in terms of lost business opportunities and corporate image.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had to apologize to the public, after Scott Forstall, then iOS software leader, allegedly refused to do so. Forstall was subsequently fired from Apple.

In the end, this one seems to come down to accountability, but it is difficult to judge how much Richard Williamson “screwed-up”, if at all. It seems clear that the “fix” will cost Apple much more than it had originally planned to develop Apple Maps, as Apple not only needs to pay TomTom for their knowledge, but the company will also ultimately have to hire thousands of “humans” (including ex-Google Maps staffers) to check on the data, just like Google and others do. There is simply no quick fix to Apple Maps, but money can accelerate the process, and Apple can throw money at the problem.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Apple
Tags: Apple Maps, business