In early 2010, Apple purchase mobile advertisers Quattro Wireless for $275 million. It was a big move in response to Google’s rising threat in the mobile ad space. A few months later, Apple turned it into its own mobile app advertising unit – iAd. Today, we learned that Quattro co-founder and head of iAd, Andy Miller, is leaving the company to become a a general partner at Highland Capital.
Highland Capital is the firm that funded Quattro Wireless, and is based in Boston, MA. Miller’s departure is a big loss for Apple, and the company is now searching for a replacement as it notified Miller’s department of his intentions today. All Things D reports:
Since Miller got to Apple, he has reported directly to its CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs, who noted after the acquisition:
“We tried to buy a company named AdMob, but Google came in and snatched them from us. So we bought Quattro, and they are teaching us. We are making ads that are different than anything I’ve ever seen.”
Now that Miller is headed to Highland Capital, he’ll have the opportunity to work on other digital ventures outside of the mobile space. In the meantime, mobile advertising is still a thriving and growing business. While iAd has been relatively expensive for would-be advertisers, the trend seems to point toward more spending in mobile ads.
[Via: AllThingsD]