Apple SVP tasked with working on special projects

Bob Mansfield, SVP of technology at Apple, has been removed from the executive board and is now working on "special projects".

The executive raked in over $85 million in 2012 thanks to Apple's high-flying stock. He briefly retired from the firm last year before returning weeks later.

"Bob will no longer be on Apple's executive team, but he will continue to work on special projects," Katie Cotton, an Apple spokeswoman told Bloomberg.

Apple has not confirmed what Mansfield's new remit consists of but reports suggest he is focused on boosting Apple's wearable technology ambitions and will report directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Mansfield was previously responsible for planning Apple's long-term chip strategy. In 2012, the division experimented with running all of Apple's products on the same architecture, under his leadership.

Apple currently uses lowered-powered ARM processors for its iOS products and high-performance, high-powered Intel chips in its Mac OS X range. This is likely to be the case for the forseeable future.

The iPhone maker has had mixed fortunes lately. Sources claimed the firm recently had to go on a hiring spree as it had run into engineering problems with its iWatch.

Despite selling a record 31.2 million iPhones during the June 2012 quarter, 20 per cent up on last year, Apple saw net profits drop to $6.9 million.