According to a 9to5Mac, the Vice President of Global Security at Apple, John Theriault, has left the company.
This comes amidst ongoing criticism after the lost prototype of the iPhone 4S. Having worked for the FBI and at Pfizer as the Chief Security Officer, Theriault joined Apple in 2007. He reported directly to General Counsel Bruce Sewell, according to a organizational chart published by Fortune.
It’s not known if Theriault was forced out, or chose to leave on his own. During his tenure, there were two lost iPhone prototypes, both involving a bar. The previous lost stolen iPhone was purchased by Gizmodo.
Perhaps the shakeups at Apple are inevitable, as Tim Cook is now the full-time CEO. Other notable Apple employees who have left recently are Senior Vice President of Retail Ron Johnson, Senior Vice President of Mac OS X Bertrand Serlet, Vice President of iAds Andy Miller, and lead designer Sarah Brody.
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Asymco’s Horace Dediu has done some number crunching, comparing the current enterprise value of Apple’s major mobile competitors against the liquid assets that it has on hand. The results illustrate how dominant of a profit force that Apple’s mobile business has become in just 4 years.
Dediu has compared the four main standalone competitors to Apple but has also made some educated estimations of the mobile divisions of larger companies like Samsung and Sony. At the moment only the inclusion of Samsung prevents Apple from having enough cash to cover a purchase of the whole mobile industry.
Dediu explains that he chose the four major manufacturers that sell 75% of all phones sold worldwide for this comparison. The enterprise values of those companies are as follows:
- Nokia $22.6b
- RIM $13.8b
- HTC $25.4b
- Motorola Mobility $4.2b
He says that it was more difficult to calculate the value of mobile subsidiaries like Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG but was able to generate an estimate using multiples of trailing operating profits. Given the troubles that RIM is in right now, its inclusion in this list isn’t too surprising.
Apple currently has estimated liquid assets of $70B, greatly outstripping the enterprise value of all of its competitors combined, excepting Samsung.
If Apple’s growth several continues as it has for the past several quarters in a row, even Samsung won’t be a barrier. Apple could soon have enough cash on hand to purchase all of its major competitors without breaking a sweat.
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