Jerry McDougal, Apple VP of Retail, Departs Apple [Updated]

T-Will said:

Some other folks who resigned to "spend more time with family":

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...even-believed/2012/01/10/gIQA7LiWpP_blog.html

Just sayin'... 😉

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Well at least it didn't say "resign to pursue other career opportunties" which we all know all too well is corporate speak for resign or be fired! God, if I had a nickel for every memo/Email like that I've read the past 34 years, I'd be rich!

I wish him only the best with his time with his family.

davida said:

Sure, you know it best. Since TC took over, there was the Browett thing, the maps thing, the .... thing, the yyyy thing. All in about a year. He just does not seem to get involved in day-to-day operations as much but delegate. That is my explanation how the map thing could happen. Didn't he try the maps himself before release to see how flawed it was? Didn't he breath and sleep with it before release? I found it cheap to fire the maps guys upon that. It is a CEO's own fault if somebody under him messes up. It is his responsibility to be on top of everything, not the VP's.

I am pretty sure he is brilliant at supply chain stuff. I am not so sure about his talents as a CEO.

And, ultimately, it is Jobs mistake to not select an appropriate CEO before his death.

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I think your expectation of a CEO is unrealistic. Maps? I'm sure maps worked fine for Tim as it has for me and based on the only such survey I've seen, 9 out of 10 iOS users.

Also, Steve Jobs presided over mobile me, Antennagate (another overblown issue like maps), the hockey puck mouse, G4 Cube's poor sales and the cracks in the casing issue, paint peeling from Titanium PowerBooks, buggy and almost useless OS X 1.0, etc. etc. but I don't think anyone would say that Steve Jobs wasn't deeply involved in those projects.

Aside from a few issues, Tim presided over a very good year, having launched the iPhone 5, the new iMac and iPad mini; all very innovative and stellar engineering/manufacturing achievements in their own right. He's added T-Mobile/Metro PCS which should ensure iPhone market- and profit-share dominance in the US next year and once he gets China's and Japan's largest carriers on board, Apple will have access to almost a billion new customers.

I'm not saying Tim is a great CEO - only history can answer that - but people should not overreact to the falling stock price and join the irrational doom and gloom chant, looking for a scapegoat when by all measures, Apple is doing better than ever and prospects are looking very good for 2013.

rmwebs said:

Didn't realise that you, as an armchair expert knew every single detail here. Care to share them with the rest of us? 🙄

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I'm not so sure that's what he said...but to that effect, this is a forum isn't it? I'm pretty sure that means that people can give their opinions.

BRLawyer said:

It's clear that Cook should have NEVER left his COO position - he is good for supply chain issues and ONLY that.

The moment he assumed CEO responsibilities, he lost control of his own boat (just see iMac and iPhone supply problems).

The only possible worst choice than him would be Michael Spindler, trust me.

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Love the expression, "trust me". WHY ? (Really, from a CT LAWYER)

If I had to guess this guy is leaving cause he keeps getting passed over for the job. Ron Johnson left and they hired some that Dixon's goober and he failed too.

When you are a VP of a business, you are often times waiting for your chance to be promoted and if he thinks he isn't getting the nod, might be time to cash in those stock options and live a happy life.

Tim Cook replaced him with Jim Bean. Guess he took his departure badly and started hitting the booze.

fiddlestyx said:

And another bites the dust ...

How many more longer serving Apple execs are going to be leaving the company this year?

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It's not like people don't leave companies. There's probably been several Microsoft exec's that have either been fired recently or resigned. Some from Dell, probably a lot from Sony (😉), it's just that Apple is the most popular media company worldwide and since they are so high profile there will be news about their staff.

"spend more time with his family"

where have I heard that b4?

This doesn't sound good

Skika said:

Find a job.

Macbook Pro, iPad, iPhone

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sell your signature.

iGrip said:

The Peter Principle?

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Interesting concept and it's probably true in many corporations but having watched Apple closely for 25 years I think they have broken the mold to an extent.

They run pretty lean for the world's largest company (give or take) and I don't think they got there by allowing pencil pushers to rise above their skill level.

coolfactor said:

Sidetracking, but I can't think of another CEO that was as hands-on with the primary products as Steve was at Apple. That's really what marked a big part of their success. A leader so focused and passionate about the key direction of the company, nobody can ignore them.

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Bingo. If you were a long-time employee at Apple, I think you would get used to having Steve popping in every now and then to check on your work. Tim Cook doesn't seem like that kind of leader to me. There's a certain level of coordination that Steve provided that may be missing now.

HenryDJP said:

It's not like people don't leave companies. There's probably been several Microsoft exec's that have either been fired recently or resigned. Some from Dell, probably a lot from Sony (😉), it's just that Apple is the most popular media company worldwide and since they are so high profile there will be news about their staff.

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...especially on a forum dedicated to every crumb of news from the big Apple...

It's very upsetting to see so many people coming on this website to trash Apple. I just want to set a few things straight.
1. People saying that Apple is on a downwards path and is losing its edge. FALSE. Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs, but he is definitely not anywhere near as bad as you all make him seem. In fact, there are many people who say Tim Cook is taking Apple to places where Steve didn't. Steve himself had been training Cook for many many years. Also Apple is selling products like no other company even if people think they are only getting incremental updates. Remember, Apple didn't release a revolutionary product every year when Steve was alive. They kept adding more updates and specs to the existing product to perfect it. An example of this is the iPod. Every generation added just 1 or 2 new features. The iPhone 3G to 3GS - only new significant update was a video recorder and faster speeds
2. People must understand that the Apple stock is completely different from Apple the company. The stock at the moment is very volatile and not doing well, but that's temporary. If you look at previous years of Apples stock, it's happened before. We have come to think that because its APPLE nothing can go wrong. That's false, it's normal for things to go wrong and that's the beauty of it. It shows the company is not a perfect robot but a company run by humans. As a company, Apples fundamentals are as strong as ever. Steve instilled them into EVERY worker, and those who couldn't maintain these fundamentals were removed like we've seen happen. Change is good. In all honesty, Scott Forstall was probably the only "important" person fired from Apple. But as stated in many articles, he was not a collaborator. He was more of a dictator and wouldn't be open to others opinions. Many other workers at Apple felt the same. In fact, people in Silicon Valley cheered at the news of his departure. Heck, Jony Ive was put in charge of iOS... JONY IVE! The man in charge of the beautiful design of the Apple products we use on a daily basis, and the man responsible alongside Steve with the success of Apple.
Overall nothing at Apple has changed besides a few management shakeups. It's as strong as ever and Apple under Cook will go places Steve didn't manage to. And for you worried about the future of Apple, Steve left a roadmap of products for years to come. Don't believe me? In Walter Isaacsons interview with Jony Ive inside the design lab, Jony told him that in that lab there was technology for the next 3 years. Meaning that in the lab they were already working on future products.

Skika said:

Find a job.

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As an 'analyst' perhaps? 😛

oldMac said:

When you're second in command and you don't get promoted to the top spot it requires that you either:

a) Leave

-- or --

b) Put your ego on the shelf.

Sounds like he couldn't manage to do #b twice. And it really does make one wonder why he was #2 if management felt he wasn't the right person to take over for #1 if #1 departed.

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Usually very true.

jimbo1mcm said:

They actually said he wanted to spend more time with his family? Hysterical.

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Standard answer. He's not gonna pour his heart out to the world, at this time.

I get the feeling that Tim Cook is tyrant.

gertruded said:

Countries, corporations, and people have life cycles.

Apple has had its time. Wish it were not so, but it looks like Apple is losing its edge.

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Remember the article that mentioned how bad apple retail staff were behind closed doors?Don't panic because Tim Cook saw an issue with the status quo and isn't afraid of making waves.

What's interesting is the unique situation apple has regarding sales. By now, Apples products more or less sell themselves, unless they release something new (unfamiliar?) , at which point consumers may need a new sales strategy to educate them on the product. (Apple TV/ ToyBox?)

The Apple stores work as a good place to buy an iPhone/ hang out If you're in a mall or feeling like splurging, but for the most part I think they work as a way of offering customer education for macs, and technical service for all the products. The sales process has become rather streamlined since aggressive sales people are not really necessary. Name one other company where an average person (not a rich person) walks into their stores and casually spends $300-800 with no remorse.

Educated consumers with little time to spend in malls buy their products online (only very OCD people and extreme apple fans wait in line on the first day). Those that actually walk into the store and require assistance to make their decision are the average/uneducated Apple customers.

Whereas the genius bar used to be a very friendly/personal experience I feel it is now more of a to the point place to get you our device fixed. The presence of an overly cheery apple store employee makes me cringe a bit. I honestly like to walk around the stores and occasionally ask some questions, but most of the time I'm just honoring my own curiosity or trying to reaffirm by confidence in Apple not falling into oblivion as some people seem to think will happen.

Aside from the need to make decisions on expanding store sizes/ managing employee quality control ( something I do feel needs a bit of work) I honestly don't know what the VP of sales is doing that isn't easily replaceable.

I'm shocked Apple stores still have the types of crowds they do. I would think that by now customers would have learned that you can just as easily buy the device online and return it if you don't want it (not that anyone returns an apple product 🙂 ). The fact that they can maintain sales of 6k per square foot for a fairly streamlines product implies great things ahead when they introduce the next device.

Have any of you tried walking into an AT&T store/Verizon store? The sales people all use android phones and the stores are a mess of low to high price android phones/ most of which are crap. The wall of Android is cluttered, confusing, and utterly unattractive. I personally think this must be confusing for customers ( who don't like to be confused and who don't like to make a choice). The android phones all look the same ( and there are so many of them) while the iPhone is in front of a white setup that symbolically screams "Buy me instead of those cheap knockoffs". I have doubts most educated customers are buying the S3. I think it's the low energy customers who were advised by the sales people that they could save $100-$200 and would get a better product. My guess is a decent number of these people won't buy another one ( especially those that have had to deal with the Samsung warranty).

I also think many bought an S3 before Apple sold a phone with 4G. AT&T and Verizon were aggressively trying to sell all android phones instead of the iPhone to support their 4G network. Now, they are pushing the low cost phones over the iPhone due to subsidies. Ultimately, I don't think this will work s customers may buy blindly, but an unsatisfied customers, or someone that doesn't like the hassle of dealing with Samsung warranty support who doesn't care about personalizing their phone or installing the latest torrent client won't be a repeat buyer. There are also the people that b android because they vehemently hate Apple. These guys would buy an android phone and preach about it as a gift from god and affirm the iPhone is inferior and overpriced because they say so. I have no problem with android (aside from it being a doomed business model), I do however have a problem with Jerks.

The market for iPhones/iPads is the same thing as the PC market. PCs as a whole may sell 10x better than the Mac Book pro/air but Apple actually makes money off of their devices while HP and Dell are stuck in a death spiral. People won't flock from the Mac Book to an ultra-book just because it's $100-200 cheaper. Some might, but those people probably wouldn't have purchased Apple anyway. Some may switch, but my guess is Apple will continue to take in billions, while the competitions continues to kill each other.

Long story short : The VP of sales is very replaceable.

Good to see Jerry putting his family first 🙂

sbailey4 said:

Not to mention wonder how many $$$$$ he is worth after 12 years at Apple? Why WOULD you stay and work 20 hrs a day and miss life. Especially when you have the funds that I am sure this guy has. Heck go enjoy some of those dollars you worked countless hours for and enjoy life a little.

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I think this is spot on. Aside from the those odd cases, the only reason a guy who's worth say $10-15M (or whatever he's worth) keeps working is because he thinks he's got a shot at getting to $100-150M.

You can live VERY well with $10M - but $100M is in another whole league. If it's now clear you're not getting that top job - and as such the 100' yacht isn't going to happening - why stick around. Going from $15M to $20M isn't going to change your lifestyle enough.

We'll see....

Partially, I think it's just the fact that you can't sustain a company indefinitely that keeps putting out ultra-successful, "best in class" products one after the other -- especially when the original driving force behind them was a fairly eccentric and unique guy who's not around anymore.

It's not like Apple is going to disintegrate and die off! But I think we're going to see them releasing more products that make people think, "Nice.... but I don't need one right now."

I could be wrong, but I really think whatever "revolutionary" new TV they finally release will be in this category. Television just isn't all that exciting. Sure, there's practically one (or three) in every home so it clearly has a market. But so do all major appliances. Should Apple come out with an amazing new refrigerator, or a triumph in high tech fused with cutting-edge design washer and dryer combo?

If you ask me (and hey, I realize nobody did!), Apple would do better if they'd focus a lot harder on corporate America. That's traditionally where all the other computer players make the bulk of their profits, because companies buy 1,000 units at a time instead of just 1. The iPad and iPhone invaded the Enterprise space without Apple even trying or wanting that to happen. But now it's happened, and companies are asking, "Should we look at Macs instead of Windows PCs too?" Problem is, Apple keeps sending back a resounding, "No!" to that question, with a total lack of not only server products but lacking even real attempts to make OS X communicate as well with Windows machines on networks as other Windows boxes do.

gertruded said:

Countries, corporations, and people have life cycles.

Apple has had its time. Wish it were not so, but it looks like Apple is losing its edge.

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Maybe the guy was asked to take the Johnson's role and declined. I've know plenty of people that were offered promotions and declined, or offered a promotion to stay with a company, but declined.

This is especially true if they already made their 'fortune'... they have enough money, but it want other things they want to work on (family, hobbies, etc). Sometimes it's not their choice (eg. his marriage is falling apart, children don't know him, and promised his wife 'one more year', three years ago).

.

Lots of people seem to be abandoning ship.

BRLawyer said:

It's clear that Cook should have NEVER left his COO position - he is good for supply chain issues and ONLY that.

The moment he assumed CEO responsibilities, he lost control of his own boat (just see iMac and iPhone supply problems).

The only possible worst choice than him would be Michael Spindler, trust me.

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canesalato said:

I'm starting to think that if not totally right, you are not totally wrong either...🙁

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😕 Apple went through some periods where the stock was hammered even during the Steve Jobs era. The company has put out lots of good products in the 1.5 years since Cook took over. The reality is that the stock market got irrationally exuberant about Apple last year, and now it is irrationally pessimistic.

Browett was a bust, but to his credit Cook recognized it soon enough before he could do too much damage. Cook has cleaned up the C-Suite (getting rid of Forstall, who was largely responsible for the Maps debacle, and convincing Bob Mansfield to "unretire"). He's also given Jony Ive a bigger role.

Cook isn't a product guy. I'll admit that. He does need to find someone to fill that role, whether within or outside Apple.

TouchMint.com said:

Yea lots of departing lately =/

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Not a good sign.

Especially she the well worn bluff "to spend more time with family" or others of that nature are given. Not is it sour grapes. An extremely loyal Apple exec, there's a true story behind this that won't surface for ages.

Apples got too many other challenges to manage at the present.