SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc’s Bob Mansfield, the iPhone maker’s senior vice-president of technologies, is stepping down from that role to work on special projects.

“[Mansfield] will no longer be on Apple’s executive team, but he will continue to work on special projects,” said Katie Cotton, an Apple spokeswoman.

Mansfield has presided over some of Apple’s toughest hardware-engineering jobs in the past decade, including a smooth transition to Mac personal computers based on Intel chips and development of the iPad tablet. Mansfield retired in June 2012 and returned in August, when Apple granted him a pay package worth US$85.5 million that made him the second-best-paid executive at any Standard & Poor’s 500 company in 2012.

The executive switch comes as investors focus on whether Apple can come up with breakthrough new products to jump-start growth for the company, whose revenue increased less than 1 per cent in the most recent quarter. The company has been developing a watch-like wearable device that would include features of the iPhone and other capabilities, people familiar with the matter have said.

“[Mansfield] is the anchor of Apple’s hardware organisation,” said Bob Borchers, a former Apple manager. “That’s why it was so important to bring him back.”

(BLOOMBERG)