Apple Poaching Engineers from Audi, BMW Owned Mapping Company

According to LinkedIn, Apple has poached at least six engineers from Here, a mapping company owned by German automotive giants Audi, BMW, and Daimler, for its Berlin-based Apple Maps team (via Business Insider). A local source has revealed that “in the past several months, Apple has hired several people away from Here for mapping jobs in Berlin”.

The source notes that when asked how many people Apple has hired from Here in Berlin and what they’re working on, the person said: “I appreciate your interest, but no, I can’t really tell you”. It remains unclear whether Apple has a secret office in Berlin or whether it is employing people remotely, since Apple has never publicly confirmed an office in Berlin.

Apple has made the following hires:

• Khang Tran — a senior software engineer at Here. He joined Apple as a software engineer this month.
• Gilbert Schulz — a program manager at Here. He joined Apple in April and currently works on the Apple Maps team.
• Konstantin Sinitsyn — a senior software engineer at Here. He joined Apple last November as a software engineer.
• Manfred Reich — regional map and content lead, Eastern Europe region at Here. He joined Apple in July 2015 after spending seven years at Here Maps and currently works on the Apple Maps team.
• Andrey Arsentyev — a product manager at Here Maps. He joined Apple in May 2015 and currently works on the Apple Maps team.
• Torsten Krenz — a director at Here where he worked for more than two and a half years. He joined Apple in August 2014 and currently works on the Maps team.

A couple of Berlin residents working in the city’s tech industry have said they weren’t aware of an Apple office in Berlin. All former Here employees have also refused to provide any information.