Apple reportedly has fired another executive in the wake of its Maps app debacle.
According to a report Wednesday from The New York Times, Apple has shown the door to Richard Williamson, senior director of iOS platform services and the manager who spearheaded development for the company's new mapping service. The report, which cites two sources, suggests that Eddy Cue, senior vice president for Internet software and services at Apple, fired Williamson sometime last week.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Williamson's departure comes on the heels of Scott Forstall, Apple's iOS software chief, also leaving the company. It was reported that Forstall, who also helped develop the Maps app, had refused to apologize for the software's shortcomings, escalating tension that already existed between himself and Apple senior executives.
The new Maps app debuted with Apple's latest mobile software iOS 6 in September. Meant to be a replacement for Google's mapping service, which was included natively in prior iOS releases, Apple's Maps app was largely criticized by users for being inaccurate and misleading. Major city milestones were found to be mislabeled, among other data inaccuracies.
Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an apology for the buggy software on Apple's website in September, about a month before Forstall's departure.
In the letter, Cook said Apple had failed to deliver a "world-class" product with the Maps app and that it is working to improve the software. In the meantime, the CEO urged users to turn to other mapping services, such as Google's.
PUBLISHED NOV. 28, 2012
