Apple Head of Home Services departs after two-year tenure

Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider

Apple's Home Services chief has departed after spending two years leading smart home projects for the Cupertino tech giant.

Sam Jadallah, whose official job title was Head of Home Services, announced that he had left Apple in a LinkedIn post over the weekend.

"That's a wrap with Apple," he wrote. "I'm so grateful for the friendships that will endure and the opportunity to shape and create new capabilities for people and homes around the world."

Jadallah added that he was excited to head back into the "Silicon Valley ecosystem." He lists his current position on LinkedIn as "Investor, Independent Board Director."

Apple hired Jedallah back in 2019 to lead its smart home efforts and the development of HomeKit. Prior to joining Apple, he worked as the CEO of a smart lock company and also spent time as a corporate vice president for Microsoft in the 1980s and 1990s.

In the two years since he was hired, Apple has pushed a number of smart home initiatives under Jedallah's watch. That includes support for the Thread standard, working with other technology companies on Matter, and introducing new HomeKit features.

Recent reports have suggested that Apple engineers are pessimistic about the future of the Apple TV. Together with the HomePod, Apple's home hardware has lagged behind competitors like Amazon and Google. However, the next evolution of Apple's home strategy could be a combination of the HomePod and Apple TV.

It isn't clear how Jadallah's departure from the company will affect that strategy, or whether it's related to the Apple TV pessimism among Apple engineers.

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9 Comments

MacsWithPenguins

said about 2 years ago

I’m guessing he found a more thrilling job at Google or Amazon, a natural next step after being at both Microsoft and Apple.

9secondkox2

said about 2 years ago

Cool. Maybe now we will see some cohesive HomeKit stuff.

citpeks

said about 2 years ago

Apple has squandered the lead it had with Siri and HomeKit.

Both have languished, and lag behind Google's and Amazon's efforts.

Instead, the company still treats the Apple TV like a hobby, if not some sort of disease to be avoided, and offered users an expensive smart speaker whose best feature is sound quality; nice but not exactly the top priority for a smart speaker. The market reacted predictably. A smaller, more affordable version might be more attractive, but hardly breaking any new ground.

And that's it.

Meanwhile, users who want IoT products that are fully integrated with the Apple ecosystem find themselves as second class citizens, lacking the same variety of choice and pricing that competitors like Google and Amazon provide.

Occasionally, a promising product that does feature HomeKit is announced, and ships on time, but many are also delayed, or never have their promise of HomeKit compatibility fulfilled (looking at you, Ring, but you're not alone).

The IoT market is worth hundreds of billions, but for reasons unknown, Apple executives are happy to let others dominate, and not do more to ensure Apple users have a similar level of options, except with the polish, and privacy-oriented design that they expect. Not a speaker or camera whose mission includes helping a company compile a data profile of your habits, in order to send you more ads, and have you buy more stuff. Where did the vision go? Where is the plan?

Meanwhile, money and resources are plowed into big, risky bets like autonomous driving vehicles (which are still a long way to being commonplace) and AR (the 3D glasses of the 21st Century).

Puzzling.

ionicle

said about 2 years ago

citpeks said:

Apple has squandered the lead it had with Siri and HomeKit.

Both have languished, and lag behind Google's and Amazon's efforts.

Instead, the company still treats the Apple TV like a hobby, if not some sort of disease to be avoided, and offered users an expensive smart speaker whose best feature is sound quality; nice but not exactly the top priority for a smart speaker. The market reacted predictably. A smaller, more affordable version might be more attractive, but hardly breaking any new ground.

And that's it.

Meanwhile, users who want IoT products that are fully integrated with the Apple ecosystem find themselves as second class citizens, lacking the same variety of choice and pricing that competitors like Google and Amazon provide.

Occasionally, a promising product that does feature HomeKit is announced, and ships on time, but many are also delayed, or never have their promise of HomeKit compatibility fulfilled (looking at you, Ring, but you're not alone).

The IoT market is worth hundreds of billions, but for reasons unknown, Apple executives are happy to let others dominate, and not do more to ensure Apple users have a similar level of options, except with the polish, and privacy-oriented design that they expect. Not a speaker or camera whose mission includes helping a company compile a data profile of your habits, in order to send you more ads, and have you buy more stuff. Where did the vision go? Where is the plan?

Meanwhile, money and resources are plowed into big, risky bets like autonomous driving vehicles (which are still a long way to being commonplace) and AR (the 3D glasses of the 21st Century).

Puzzling.

Pretty much this, but im hoping now he has been given the boot he will be replaced by someone who is eager and keen to grow this area while still focusing on privacy

goodbyeranch

said about 2 years ago

citpeks said:

Meanwhile, money and resources are plowed into big, risky bets

I'm fine with discontinued speakers, so-so siri and iffy support for lightbulbs if the tradeoff is M1 Pro Chips, AR/VR and a car.

Tried both homepods. I'd rather wear my iPod Max. As for siri, I don't really care for talking to my devices. Just got rid of all of my wifi lightbulbs because the functionality is just a novelty and configuring them again whenever my power blinks out isn't worth the hassle.