Sir Jony Ive, former Chief Design Officer at Apple, has left the American giants to start his own design firm, LoveFrom. Follow this news, Apple’s stocks have dipped, incurring a $9 billion loss in the company’s market cap.
According to Gizmodo, $9 billion only represents a one percent drop in market cap. But the investors’ uneasiness is warranted considering Ive’s pivotal role in Apple’s resurgence in the late 90s thanks to the candy-coloured iMac as well as the iPhone later on.
Recent renders of the new iPhone suggest that it could have a square camera module – something that seems out of character for Apple, since their design philosophy is about sleek, effortless aesthetics. One could deduce that Ive’s departure may have some relation to this; but Ive has confirmed that LoveFrom will continue to work with Apple as well as its internal design team.
But of course, Apple won’t be the company’s only client, so it will be interesting to see how long the relationship between both parties last, and what both brands can conjure in the coming years.