Apple Creates New iPod Division

[MacRumors]

Reuters reports that Apple has spun off iPod development into its own division within the company.

The move was made in response to an internal company-wide email from Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The new division will be headed by Jon Rubenstein, current leader of hardware engineering efforts. The division also makes way for a "Macintosh" division to be headed by Timothy Cook, current head of Apple's worldwide sales and operations, according to Reuters.

Quoted from an Apple spokesperson:

This organizational refinement will focus our talent and resources even more precisely on our industry-leading Macintosh computers and the wildly successful iPod.

Since its introduction in October 2001, more than 3 million iPods have been sold.

[nagromme]

Why not? Makes sense.

[insidedanshead]

reminds me of the old school "mac" vs "apple" interoffice competition. could this potentially be a bad thing?

[ingenious]

Good. Hopefully this quiets iPod/Mac arguements and brings on the updates!
Come on PowerBook G5!

[ingenious]

Originally Posted by insidedanshead

reminds me of the old school "mac" vs "apple" interoffice competition. could this potentially be a bad thing?

I'm seein' your point. What if this turns out to be a PalmSource/palmOne thing where the iPod/Mac gets spun off? I hope not. This is just bringing back horrid memories from the days when I actually liked PDAs.

[jimsowden]

perhaps this means we will see some ipod minis in stores.

[MoparShaha]

I suppose this will be a good thing. It more clearly defines product development within the company. Should quiet all the whinners who keep saying Apple should start concentrating on computers instead of iPods (I'm probably one ). What might the negatives of this be though?

[bertagert]

Good move on Apple's part. This let the other divisions concentrate more on their projects. Plus, it will let the PM and PB engineers produce better machines faster. Woohoo!

[leftbanke7]

Originally Posted by insidedanshead

reminds me of the old school "mac" vs "apple" interoffice competition. could this potentially be a bad thing?

If the iPod and Mac were competing products, I would say yes but since they are two total seperate markets and actually compliment each other, I think this move is a great way to streamline production and R&D. I think both products will improve because of this.

[geerlingguy]

I was wondering if they would do this... The only logical next step would be to spin off the iPod & iTunes into another company (kind of like they did with Claris) if they keep becoming more and more popular.

It's REALLY nice being the king!

[jackieonasses]

as long as the ipods get less R&D then the powermacs....

[iBook]

Originally Posted by geerlingguy

(kind of like they did with Claris)

This is probably "off-topic," but one of the things I like about Web bulletin boards is the dynamic conversation they allow.

What happened to Claris? And, for that matter, Apple Works? Wasn't there a rumor at some point about something called iWrite and a pending announcement that Apple would be putting together an "Office" offering of its own?

[CRF]

I think this is great. Apple can now be in focus on their flagship products: Macintosh and iPod. Also may be we can get more updates in less time . Besides maybe they open up the iPod a little bit, so it can stay as leader in the mp3 market almost forever

[MarksEvilTwin]

Removed

[bbarnhart]

Originally Posted by iBook

What happened to Claris? And, for that matter, Apple Works? Wasn't there a rumor at some point about something called iWrite and a pending announcement that Apple would be putting together an "Office" offering of its own?

Claris turned into FileMaker Inc and Apple controls AppleWorks. There is no Claris anymore.

In fact, FileMaker Inc owns the domain Claris.com, although, it didn't come up for me.

[Gus]

I don't understand the argument that this will bring about better Macs or faster updates. I'm sure that the engineers who were working on PBs and PMs were not involved in the iPod development. This seems to be something else. I wonder if this might be a way of leveraging both the Beatles' and Eminiem's lawsuits? Is there a legal loophole that would create a distinction between the iPod division and the Mac division now?

I guess I'm just a little worried after the 90's and the various spin-off divisions and the attempts at making them their own companies like the aforementioned Claris and Newton. Both of these were failures for differing reasons, but it was generally a lack of direction from those put in charge of the spin-offs. I know Jon Rubenstein is a smart man, but we'll see what happens now.

Regards,
Gus

[AD9]

I wonder how extensively the new division will be divided. I know some have thought the ipod has been the focus, and they are not thinking of macs, but really for the complexity of the ipod it has been developing slowly maybe it will really take off with a group of highly focused developers. I have thought from the begining when it was called the i"POD" rather than i(something musical) it was going to be used for much more than music and its been showing signs of expansion beyond since. Maybe this new division will let some of the new tricks out soon.

[t300]

I think that iTunes will stay with the iPod in development. You know they develop each side by side and they both work off of eachother...Hell, they share their own section on Apple.com... iPod + iTunes...I think it will be this way for a while.

[applemacdude]

But Apple stills makes profit our of the New Spun Off Company?

[michaelb]

Originally Posted by bbarnhart

Claris turned into FileMaker Inc and Apple controls AppleWorks. There is no Claris anymore.

In terms of control, FileMaker Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple. (Which means they're unlikely to axe the Mac version without Steve's go-ahead!)

As an example of the close ties, FileMaker was one of the first major apps to be Carbonized during the great Mac OS X transition.

Now I just wish they'd hurry up and release FileMaker Mobile 7...

[kansast]

Originally Posted by Gus

This seems to be something else. I wonder if this might be a way of leveraging both the Beatles' and Eminiem's lawsuits? Is there a legal loophole that would create a distinction between the iPod division and the Mac division now?

So far... this seems to be the only take I've heard on this that makes any sense.. or maybe I've been watching too much t.v. :-)

[SiliconAddict]

Originally Posted by applemacdude

But Apple stills makes profit our of the New Spun Off Company?

The ipod isn't being spun off as its own company. Its simply being consolidated into its own division. Its hard to really say anything about this. Could be good. Could be bad. Could be nothing at all.
If nothing else its probably something Apple has been planning for a while but hasn't gotten around to it til now. Competition and growing sales probably turned this into a priority. *shrugs* What bennifits do you get out of creating a division other then streamlining paperwork and "the books"

[michaelrjohnson]

well, it obviously made sense to streamline their r&d... i'm sure they've had separate "teams" working on their different products, but it just makes sense to split it up so they could focus.

overall, not earthshattering, however it does bring to light the fact that apple truly does see a future in the ipod, more than some other products in the past.

here's to the future!

[afields]

So is this gonna be like what lexus is to toyota?

[appleguy]

so when do we see www.ipodrumors.com start up?
someone owns it.