Apple Fires Manager Responsible for Maps as Eddy Cue Turns to Outsiders for Help

As Apple continues to work toward improving the new Maps service the company rolled out in iOS 6, Bloomberg reports that Apple has fired Richard Williamson, the manager directly responsible for the project.

Richard Williamson, who oversaw the mapping team, was fired by Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information wasn't yet public. Cue, who took over last month as part of a management shakeup, is seeking advice from outside mapping-technology experts and prodding digital maps provider TomTom NV to fix landmark and navigation data it shares with Apple.

As part of a management shakeup at Apple announced last month, iOS chief Scott Forstall will be leaving the company next year and his responsibilities have been delegated to other executives. With Eddy Cue now overseeing Maps in addition to his iTunes Store, App Store, iCloud, iBookstore, iAd, and Siri responsibilities, Apple has brought on its "product resuscitator" to help fix the highly criticized service.


Cue is said to be taking a very hands-on approach with Maps, and with his firing of Williamson seems to be looking to build his own team to address the service's many issues.