Shortly after Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller took the witness stand, Apple Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall testified in the Apple vs. Samsung case. Forstall has been with Apple for 15 years and is one of the main brains behind the creation of the iPhone. As noted by AllThingsD, which is in the courtroom, Forstall spoke at length about the creation of the iPhone.
According to Forstall, Apple’s late cofounder, Steve Jobs, told him in 2004 that he could not hire anyone outside of the company to assist with the device’s creation. Instead, Forstall had to go through the ranks of Apple to select the perfect team. He told potential candidates, “You are going to have to give up nights and weekends probably for a couple years.” The project was so secret —even behind the doors of Cupertino— that it was referred to as “Project Purple.” The team even hung a Fight Club poster outside of the office, signaling not to discuss it. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fast-forward to now, Forstall told the court that he has 10 people on his executive team and a whopping 1,000 people reporting to him and another 1,000 on his staff. That is roughly 2,000 people working on iOS.
During the cross-examination, Samsung exposed Jobs’ interest in the 7-inch iPad via an email from Eddy Cue to other Apple executives (even after Jobs said the company would not go into that market).
Up next, Apple plans to call the following to the stand:
- Justin Denison: Samsung’s chief strategy officer
- Wookyun Kho: Engineer at Samsung
- Peter Bressler: Former president of the Industrial Designers Society of America
- Susan Kare: Famed UI and graphics designer
- Ravin Balakrishnan: University of Toronto computer science professor
