Apple exec for business sales departs

John Solomon, hired by Apple to sell its products to big businesses and government, has left his position, the company said on Tuesday.

Apple hired Solomon, a longtime HP Inc. executive who had run HP’s global consumer printing business, in 2015 as vice president for enterprise and government.

Solomon did not return a request for comment. Apple confirmed his departure but declined to comment further.

The impact of Solomon’s departure on Apple’s enterprise efforts was not immediately available, but Apple has increased its efforts to sell to large businesses in recent years.

In 2014, Apple launched a partnership with IBM to help build custom iOS applications for businesses.

In 2016, Apple made a deal with Cisco so that iPhones would work better on Cisco’s networking gear and also partnered with Deloitte to encourage more businesses to build iOS applications.

Speaking at a conference hosted by Box in 2016, Chief Executive Tim Cook said that Apple had about $25 billion in enterprise sales in the previous year.

“This is not a hobby,” Cook concluded of Apple’s enterprise efforts.

Source: Reuters