Apple’s California headquarters is unlikely to pick a new general manager for Apple Korea for the time being amid reports that Apple Japan’s operating executive will be leading Korean operations.

Industry sources said that Colin Greene, senior director of operations of Apple Japan, will be overseeing Apple Korea, and that this proxy system may continue indefinitely.

Greene reports to the Cupertino headquarters of Apple, as is the case for most operation executives at regional offices.

Apple Korea executives are known to have little say over Apple products. This is reflected in the fact that Apple Korea doesn’t have direct marketing authority over any of the top Apple gadgets, such as the iPhone or the iPad.

The Macbook lineup is about the only item that Apple Korea oversees in terms of marketing, the sources said.

Also, from the beginning, Apple Korea has operated as an organization that serves only as a sales outlet, which is why there is no official country manager.

In recent years, Apple Korea, with some 80 plus employees, had appeared to be growing in both size and scale, with the company actively inviting top people from within the local IT industry to join the workforce.

But last year, the company expansion met a sudden obstacle with the abrupt ouster of Dominique Oh, Apple Korea’s former general manager. The reason is still unclear.

Rumors have said that Oh was forced to take responsibility for the faltering sales of the iPhone 4S, which suffered following reports at the time of the coming of the iPhone 5.

Others say that it was unlikely for a company like Apple, which prides itself for being “reasonable,” and that there was another reason that neither the company nor Oh could come out and say.

Whatever the cause was, Oh is out of the picture and Apple’s headquarters have yet to say the word on whether it will be appointing a new manager.

Apple Korea was established in 1998. In 2009, the company was catapulted to renewed fame after launching the iPhone, which is cited by many as late Apple founder Steve Jobs’ best creation, as it permanently altered the global mobile phone landscape. 


By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)

<한글 기사>

애플 코리아, 일본에 편입?

(코리아헤럴드=김지현 기자) 애플 코리아의 신임 사장의 인선이 늦어지면서 애플 재팬의 임원이 당분간 최고임원 노릇을 하게 될 것이라고 업계 관계자들이 전했다.

애플 재팬에서 오퍼레이션 디렉터를 맡고 있는 콜린 그린이 그 주인공으로, 지금도 애플 코리아의 보고를 받고 있는 것으로 전해졌다. 일각에서는 이러한 구도가 언제까지 지속될 지 알 수 없으며, 심지어는 애플 코리아가 새로운 사장을 인선하지 않을지도 모른다는 우려도 전했다.

애플 코리아는 처음부터 영업조직으로 출발해, 마케팅 등의 주요 업무에는 관여하지 않았다. 현재도 아이폰이나 아이패드와 같은 주요 제품에는 권한이 없고, 맥북 정도만 담당할 뿐인 것으로 전해지고 있다. 애플 코리아 사장도 공식적인 지자상이 아닌 제너럴 매니저, 즉, 총괄로 칭하는 까닭도 이러한 조직의 성격과 일맥상통하다.

실제로 애플의 경우, 한국이 모든 주요 업무를 한국이 아닌 미국 본사에서만 처리하는 것으로도 잘 알려져 있다.

한편, 지난해 10월, 애플 코리아 총괄인 도미니크 오는 뚜렷한 이유 없이 갑작스럽게 사임했다.