Third prodigal son comes back into the Apple fold

A third former senior Apple executive is returning to the fold.

David Manovich was due to rejoin the company yesterday as executive vice president of worldwide sales and services, replacing Marco Landi who resigned last month. His reappointment follows the recent return of Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Manovich left Apple last year to become vice president of sales at Fujitsu, ending 10 years service with the struggling Mac maker. He had held a variety of positions, including vice president of the consumer/retail sales division, director of channel sales for the US, and country manager for the UK and Ireland.

Commenting on his return, Manovich said: "I want to help re-establish Apple's strengths in our core markets. My number one priority is to meet the expectations of Apple's customers and fulfil customer demand. Given my previous experience at Apple, I think I can make an immediate contribution."

Gil Amelio, Apple's CEO, said: "David is a well-known and respected sales executive, both inside and outside Apple. He brings an especially strong reputation with the sales channel as well as international experience.

We are very pleased that he has chosen to return to the team."

Meanwhile, Amelio told developers at a meeting of the Software Publishers Association that Java would be Apple's salvation. Although he implored developers to continue working with the MacOS, he added: "Many of you have invested in our platform and have yet to see a return."

Apple's next upgrade to the MacOS, called Tempo, is due out in July and will be the second in a series of six-monthly releases coming out over the next two years. The first, called Harmony, shipped in January. Tempo will integrate both Java and a multithread finder originally developed for the now-defunct Copland project.