Tony Faddell, who helped develop Apple’s iconic music player, is leaving his post as senior vice president of the iPod division, the company said Tuesday.
In announcing the exit of Mr. Faddell and his wife, Danielle Lambert, vice president of human resources, Apple said that IBM veteran Mark Papermaster is joining the company as senior vice president of devices hardware engineering for the iPod and iPhone. IBM filed a lawsuit against Mr. Papermaster in October, charging that he breached a non-compete agreement.
The plans of Mr. Faddell and Ms. Lambert remained unclear. In announcing that they are “reducing their roles within the company as they devote more time to their young family,” Apple said that Mr. Faddell would remain an advisor to Mr. Jobs, while Ms. Lambert leaves the company at year’s end after a successor chosen.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, first reported on the executive shuffle Monday.
IBM filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan based on a 2-year-old non-compete agreement in which Mr. Papermaster agreed not to work for IBM competitors for a year after leaving the company.
Mr. Papermaster worked on developing IBM’s Power PC microprocessors and blade servers.