Apple Names Isabel Ge Mahe as New Managing Director of Greater China

[6502]

She's reporting directly to the CEO and running their China operation. How much more 'executive' can it get?

SVP and EVP are official titles in most organizations not just adjectives based on how close you are to the CEO.
[doublepost=1500477139][/doublepost]I give her a year, 18 months max, before she is at Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus, Oppo or any of the other Chinese cell phone companies and then starts bashing Apple how they don't innovate and move so slowly.

 

[kyleh22]

Don't they use Qualcomm and intel chips for all the wireless systems in the iPhone? I'm not putting her down, I really am confused why someone would need to be VP for that 'dept'.

Companies of this size have a huge amount of say into what suppliers make. I'm sure both suppliers work directly with apple to make sure what they're producing meets apples design requirements. If Qualcomm or Intel didn't create a wireless system suitable for Apple or if their product delays a major Apple device release, it would be VP of wireless's responsibility/fault.

 

[JPack]

I checked Apple’s website and didn’t see a press release for Lisa Jackson, who also reports directly to Cook. I think it’s a more recent phenomenon.

Lisa Jackson is Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives.

Isabel Ge Mahe is Apple’s Managing Director of Greater China.

One is a pretend position with feel-good objectives. The other is responsible for more than $40 billion of revenue per year. I'm not surprised Isabel's position needs greater visibility.
[doublepost=1500483707][/doublepost]

Don't they use Qualcomm and intel chips for all the wireless systems in the iPhone? I'm not putting her down, I really am confused why someone would need to be VP for that 'dept'.

Hint: When Qualcomm and Intel design a modem, they target a specific customer or group of customers. They don't design a modem on their own and guess at customer requirements. Apple's VP of Wireless Technologies has a big voice to drive that feature set, including Apple-specific features. This is similar to Intel releasing custom SKUs for Apple. This includes price, availability, binning, and life cycle support.

 

[2headedgeek]

What ever happened to Steve Cano ?

 

[stevet]

Hint: When Qualcomm and Intel design a modem, they target a specific customer or group of customers. They don't design a modem on their own and guess at customer requirements. Apple's VP of Wireless Technologies has a big voice to drive that feature set, including Apple-specific features. This is similar to Intel releasing custom SKUs for Apple. This includes price, availability, binning, and life cycle support.

Thats probably true for Intel, I highly doubt Apple and Qualcomm were collaborating on their chip design.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/11/15255318/qualcomm-sues-apple-iphone-countersue-intel

If they were, then why would they purposely cripple the throughput?
[doublepost=1500491291][/doublepost]

If you read the article it says she has pushed for better wireless technology, (for all of the above), why would you not have a VP managing all of this?

Even if other companies do supply the chips, they still need a department, including a VP, to ensure these are made to work for the iPhone, I very much doubt all of the above wireless technology is just off the shelf and used by other manufacturers which Apple simply places an order for.​

I bet more of it's off the shelf than you think. Wireless standards are just that, standard. There may be some internal data passing or control that Apple gets but overall I bet it's more driven by WiFi, Cellular, and BT standards.

 

[Quicklite]

You know in corporate speak that Apple's China sale is needing innovation, when they throws a job title onto it.

 

[JPack]

Thats probably true for Intel, I highly doubt Apple and Qualcomm were collaborating on their chip design.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/11/15255318/qualcomm-sues-apple-iphone-countersue-intel

If they were, then why would they purposely cripple the throughput?

It would make almost no sense that Apple didn't have a hand in Qualcomm modem design. Apple is Qualcomm's largest customer. It's a symbiotic relationship.

That's like saying Boeing didn't consult with United Airlines or Delta during the design of the 737NG.

If Apple didn't like Qualcomm's design direction, they could design in-house or go to Intel. Qualcomm doesn't want to lose business. Apple doesn't want to use a crappy modem either.

The dispute with Qualcomm is a financial issue as well as a marketing one. Yes, Apple crippled the Qualcomm modem because they wanted to dual-source their modems. Apple doesn't want varying levels of performance in their iPhone. Is it that strange? This marketing and supply chain issue is different from the engineering issue.

 

[stevet]

It would make almost no sense that Apple didn't have a hand in Qualcomm modem design. Apple is Qualcomm's largest customer. It's a symbiotic relationship.

That's like saying Boeing didn't consult with United Airlines or Delta during the design of the 737NG.

If Apple didn't like Qualcomm's design direction, they could design in-house or go to Intel. Qualcomm doesn't want to lose business. Apple doesn't want to use a crappy modem either.

Not the same thing. The modem isn't driven by Apple, it's driven by the cell carriers and wireless standards. The frequencies, protocols, etc... It's not driven by Apple. The only thing they may have a hand in is trying to squeeze out power and throughput efficiency. I don't think you understand what the modem is or does.

The dispute with Qualcomm is a financial issue as well as a marketing one. Yes, Apple crippled the Qualcomm modem because they wanted to dual-source their modems. Apple doesn't want varying levels of performance in their iPhone. Is it that strange? This marketing and supply chain issue is different from the engineering issue.

Yes, thats very strange. If you have a superior Wireless Soc and you purposely cripple it because your second source isn't as good, you have made a mistake.
Edit: The lawsuit isn't marketing, it's Qualcomm trying to get money for everything that the phone does because it couldn't do any of it without it's chip (their story). Thats not marketing.

It's noted that they have hired a former Qualcomm design engineer, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing their own wireless Soc in house to cut Qualcomm out. In fact that may be the reason why this VP was moved out. Lastly from me on this topic, it strikes me as odd that they had a VP for that division but had to make up the VP position that she took overseeing China's growth. You would think that China was important enough to already have someone in that position, but I guess the Wireless Soc Vp was a more important position

 

[FelixDerKater]

She has also previously been in charge of the engineering teams developing Apple Pay, HomeKit, and CarPlay, and she has worked closely with Apple's R&D team and carrier partners to bake China-specific features into the iPhone and iPad.

Making sure your posts and messages always tow the party line...

 

[JPack]

Not the same thing. The modem isn't driven by Apple, it's driven by the cell carriers and wireless standards. The frequencies, protocols, etc... It's not driven by Apple. The only thing they may have a hand in is trying to squeeze out power and throughput efficiency. I don't think you understand what the modem is or does.



Yes, thats very strange. If you have a superior Wireless Soc and you purposely cripple it because your second source isn't as good, you have made a mistake.
Edit: The lawsuit isn't marketing, it's Qualcomm trying to get money for everything that the phone does because it couldn't do any of it without it's chip (their story). Thats not marketing.

It's noted that they have hired a former Qualcomm design engineer, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing their own wireless Soc in house to cut Qualcomm out. In fact that may be the reason why this VP was moved out. Lastly from me on this topic, it strikes me as odd that they had a VP for that division but had to make up the VP position that she took overseeing China's growth. You would think that China was important enough to already have someone in that position, but I guess the Wireless Soc Vp was a more important position

I know you're trying to prove your point, unfortunately you're incorrect.

If what you are saying were true, Apple wouldn't be hiring Wireless IC Engineers. The job posting below for example, specifically calls out baseband design. Apple has been hiring these engineers for years, well before this Qualcomm incident.

A couple of my university cohorts are baseband engineers and it's entirely normal for big customers to dictate the design direction of modems from Qualcomm, MediaTek, HiSilicon.

https://jobs.apple.com/us/search?job=56044968&openJobId=56044968

Wireless IC Design Engineer

• Job Number: 56044968
• Santa Clara Valley, California, United States
• Posted: Mar. 9, 2017
• Weekly Hours: 40.00

Job Summary
In this highly visible role, you will be part of a silicon design group responsible for designing state-of-the-art wireless SOCs.

Description
▪Wireless baseband digital design and verification.
▪Hardware complexity analysis and performance validation.
▪Write and own detailed design documents to enable implementation of algorithms in silicon and contribute to and collaborate with FW teams on Software implementation and chip bringup.
▪Work with Algorithm and software designers to realize area and power efficient designs.​

[doublepost=1500526547][/doublepost]

Yes, thats very strange. If you have a superior Wireless Soc and you purposely cripple it because your second source isn't as good, you have made a mistake.
Edit: The lawsuit isn't marketing, it's Qualcomm trying to get money for everything that the phone does because it couldn't do any of it without it's chip (their story). Thats not marketing.

It's noted that they have hired a former Qualcomm design engineer, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing their own wireless Soc in house to cut Qualcomm out. In fact that may be the reason why this VP was moved out. Lastly from me on this topic, it strikes me as odd that they had a VP for that division but had to make up the VP position that she took overseeing China's growth. You would think that China was important enough to already have someone in that position, but I guess the Wireless Soc Vp was a more important position

Your assumption is engineering decisions are always prioritized.

In the real world, many leaders view their company using a wider lens. Tim Cook as a supply chain guy, knows using a sole source for modems is a mistake. These lessons were learned over 30 years ago when IBM demanded Intel share their x86 architecture with AMD to avoid overdependence on Intel. The lesson today is no different. You groom your second supplier such that they compete with each other. Crippling Qualcomm modems in the short term to groom Intel is a no-brainer if Apple wants to win in the long term.

 

[lazard]

''In the second quarter of 2017, revenue in China was at $10.7 billion, down from $12.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.''
Someone should inform apple that selling the same phone for 3 years does that to your revenue...

More to do with them being able to purchase a phone with comparable or better specs at half the price (Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, etc.).

 

[stevet]

I know you're trying to prove your point, unfortunately you're incorrect.

If what you are saying were true, Apple wouldn't be hiring Wireless IC Engineers. The job posting below for example, specifically calls out baseband design. Apple has been hiring these engineers for years, well before this Qualcomm incident.

A couple of my university cohorts are baseband engineers and it's entirely normal for big customers to dictate the design direction of modems from Qualcomm, MediaTek, HiSilicon.

https://jobs.apple.com/us/search?job=56044968&openJobId=56044968

Wireless IC Design Engineer

• Job Number: 56044968
• Santa Clara Valley, California, United States
• Posted: Mar. 9, 2017
• Weekly Hours: 40.00

Job Summary
In this highly visible role, you will be part of a silicon design group responsible for designing state-of-the-art wireless SOCs.

Description
▪Wireless baseband digital design and verification.
▪Hardware complexity analysis and performance validation.
▪Write and own detailed design documents to enable implementation of algorithms in silicon and contribute to and collaborate with FW teams on Software implementation and chip bringup.
▪Work with Algorithm and software designers to realize area and power efficient designs.​

[doublepost=1500526547][/doublepost]

Your assumption is engineering decisions are always prioritized.

In the real world, many leaders view their company using a wider lens. Tim Cook as a supply chain guy, knows using a sole source for modems is a mistake. These lessons were learned over 30 years ago when IBM demanded Intel share their x86 architecture with AMD to avoid overdependence on Intel. The lesson today is no different. You groom your second supplier such that they compete with each other. Crippling Qualcomm modems in the short term to groom Intel is a no-brainer if Apple wants to win in the long term.

Kind of funny, it seems what you are accusing me of is exactly what you are doing. You don't know what you are talking about.

I'm not sure if you read my post or the job posting, but I said that it was entirely possible that they were building their own Wireless SoC to replace Qualcomm. That description doesn't mean they are there to work with Qualcomm or any other vendor, it's to design their OWN IC! The modems will have to be designed to the STANDARDS that the iPhone uses for Wifi, Cell, and BT. The bands and protocols aren't open for negotiation by Apple, they have to adhere to them in order get data/information from those networks.

So making the better chip look worse is bettering the competition? Gotcha.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Like I said her hands have been in some dangerous areas at Apple, not sure if Steve would have allowed a government agent in this far.

 

[JPack]

I'm not sure if you read my post or the job posting, but I said that it was entirely possible that they were building their own Wireless SoC to replace Qualcomm. That description doesn't mean they are there to work with Qualcomm or any other vendor, it's to design their OWN IC! The modems will have to be designed to the STANDARDS that the iPhone uses for Wifi, Cell, and BT. The bands and protocols aren't open for negotiation by Apple, they have to adhere to them in order get data/information from those networks.

So making the better chip look worse is bettering the competition? Gotcha.

Like I said, Apple has been seeking Wireless IC Engineers for years, at least since the days of the iPhone 3G. Apple certainly hasn't been designing their own baseband ground-up since that time. If you want to stay ignorant because you haven't been tracking Apple postings and believe this is a new position for designing their own wireless IC, that's your problem.

Where you really show your ignorance is when you think a "standard" means there is only one way to implement something.

As an example, implementing MIMO-OFDM in 4G has very high computational requirements. Those waveform calculations can be done through hardware or software. After you've chosen one route, there are several classic methods to solve this using different algorithms including MCGR, Householder, and Givens.

It's laughable you think a standard means there's only one way to do it. It must really confuse you to see more than two dozen companies designing competing 802.11n chipsets.

 

[57004]

As for "Old" Zealand, New Zealand is named after Zeelandia (or Zeeland) in the Netherlands. In Dutch it is called "Nova Zeelandia".

No it's not We call it "Nieuw-Zeeland". Nova is a Latin term. Zeelandia also isn't a Dutch name for the original Zeeland province.

I think that term comes from old maps that were Latinised.

 

[stevet]

It's laughable you think a standard means there's only one way to do it. It must really confuse you to see more than two dozen companies designing competing 802.11n chipsets.

I don't think there is only one way design the chip, otherwise they wouldn't have to cripple Qualcomms chip to match the inferior Intel performance. If Apple was working with Qualcomm, how come they weren't working with Intel to match the Qualcomm performance?

 

[JPack]

I don't think there is only one way design the chip, otherwise they wouldn't have to cripple Qualcomms chip to match the inferior Intel performance. If Apple was working with Qualcomm, how come they weren't working with Intel to match the Qualcomm performance?

It's nice see you finally agree that modem design is more than just following a standard.

In all likelihood, Apple was working with Intel as well to customize the modem for iPhone.

Intel's Mobile Communications was formed only in 2011 and they have 1/10 number of employees compared to Qualcomm. Intel bought Infineon to form their Mobile Communications group. At the time, Infineon was late to 4G compared to Qualcomm.

You can't simply match Qualcomm performance if neither Apple nor Intel have the resources to do so.

 

[stevet]

It's nice see you finally agree that modem design is more than just following a standard.

In all likelihood, Apple was working with Intel as well to customize the modem for iPhone.

Intel's Mobile Communications was formed only in 2011 and they have 1/10 number of employees compared to Qualcomm. Intel bought Infineon to form their Mobile Communications group. At the time, Infineon was late to 4G compared to Qualcomm.

You can't simply match Qualcomm performance if neither Apple nor Intel have the resources to do so.

I never said it was ALL about following a standard. I am glad to see you’re willing to work on your reading is promising.

I do like how you think it was Apple that made Qualcomm’s chip faster though, lol.... So they’ll help Intel get their chip as fast or faster than Qualcomm’s?

 

[lestmak]

No it's not We call it "Nieuw-Zeeland". Nova is a Latin term. Zeelandia also isn't a Dutch name for the original Zeeland province.

I think that term comes from old maps that were Latinised.

Damn. Time to go change the Wikipedia page....