On Monday Apple Inc. (AAPL) reported a major management shake-up that could have a lasting impact for the company moving forward.

In a surprise turn of events Scott Forstall, the senior Vice President of iOS software, will leave the company in 2013. In the meantime he will step down as senior Vice Preisdent of iOS and serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook.

Forstall has been an important figure within Apple since 1997 and has been credited with much of the success of the iOS (iPhone Operating System) platform. However, it has been suggested that his leadership in the development of the much maligned Apple Maps application is a reason for his leaving of the company.

Apple executives Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will all be taking on more responsibilities as a result of the management changes.

Jony Ive will take on Human Interface (HI) management leadership in addition to his role as leader of Industrial Design. Ive’s designs have been a driving force behind Apple’s look and feel for over a decade.

Eddy Cue, senior Vice President of Internet software and services, will be taking over the management of the company’s Siri and Maps divisions. This will help put all of Apple’s online services, including the iTunes Store, the App Store, iCloud, and the iBookstore, under a single management group.

Craig Federighi, senior Vice President of Mac Software Engineering, will now lead both iOS and OS X teams in an attempt to provide greater integration and user experience over the different operating systems.

Bob Mansfield will now management a new segment of Apple, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams into one organization. The hopes for Apple is that this lead to great innovation with better communication within the company.

In addition to the software management shake-ups, head of retail John Browett is also leaving the company. Tim Cook will oversee the Retail group until a new manager is found.

Apple shares were down $14.01, or -2.32%, in morning trading on Wednesday.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

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