Scalise leaves Apple

Saying that he had "accomplished what I wanted to do," George Scalise, executive VP of operations at

Apple Computers (Cupertino, CA, http://www.apple.com), resigned Tuesday after 14 months on the job. He leaves to assume the role of president of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), replacing former president Thomas Armstrong.

Apple, which has painfully tried to maintain its foothold in the PC market, is expected to name his successor in the coming weeks. Scalise joins the growing number of key Apple executives who have left the troubled company, including former VPs Satjiv Chahil and Marco Landi. Scalise himself played a major role in trimming the Apple workforce by roughly 4,000 employees in an effort to erase a crushing $1.6 billion in losses accumulated since late '95. "We put in place an organization necessary to be competitive," Scalise claims. Analysts, however, continue to be skeptical about Apple's financial comeback; the company is expected to run in the red at least until year's end.