The relative business failure of the 2018 iPhones continues to have consequences for Apple, its partners, its executives and employees. After putting Apple’s shares in a downward spiral and compromising the finances of even its suppliers, the debacle of devices should also affect yet another aspect of life at Apple Park: new hires.
In a report for the Bloomberg, The insider Apple’s Mark Gurman said the company “will reduce hires” in some of its sectors because of weak iPhones sales and the reduction in its revenue expectations for the first fiscal quarter of 2019. The decision would have been revealed by Tim Cook in person, in a meeting with executives and employees held the day after the publication of the letter that exposed the difficult period of the Apple.
According to sources who attended the meeting, Cook was asked whether Apple would implement a “hiring freeze” policy in response to the crisis. The CEO replied that he did not believe that was the solution, but that, given the less than favorable situation, some divisions of the company would have their pace of hiring reduced.
After the meeting, the company’s main executives held conferences with managers and other important figures from Cupertino, saying that the reduction in sales of iPhones is an “opportunity for innovation”, which could mean a change of focus in the company’s culture. THE Bloomberg, by the way, cited a specific example: according to the report, Apple is more focused than ever in establishing partnerships to take the Apple Music to more third party devices, considering the platform of streaming one of your main bets for the future.
As is well known, the last decade has seen a pace of mind-boggling hires at Apple, whether in areas where the company already operated or in new sectors created to explore unprecedented markets, such as the world of music and entertainment. It is not known exactly which Cupertino divisions will be affected by the slowdown, but, according to Gurman, Cook guaranteed that “key sectors”, such as artificial intelligence, will not suffer negative changes.
Project Titan climbs on the roof?
A rumor related to the above subject, but coming from a questionable source, can pose a big question mark in the future of Apple’s autonomous car system. Lynx Equity Strategies analysts KC Rajkumar and Jahanara Nissar issued a note to investors stating that the Titan Project may be close to being terminated at Apple.
Lexus RX450h used by Apple to test the Titan ProjectAccording to the note, Apple would have already dismissed or relocated part of the team responsible for the project and, due to the revenue reductions caused by the failure of the new iPhones, it may be close to canceling the initiative as a whole. The justification given by analysts is that his development is not a priority for Apple or a determining part of its future; less money, therefore, would mean less space for secondary projects.
It is worth noting, however, that analysts do not have a history of correct information or familiarity with Apple’s internal affairs and, therefore, the information must be digested with a foot behind. It may even be that the Apple is reducing the team of Project Titan or its expectations for the initiative, but canceling the division as a whole seems to me a very drastic attitude for such a promising sector in the area of technology.
via 9to5Mac, Cult of Mac