I'm not sure what Apple is expecting here. 9 women can't make a baby in a month, and a billion dollars can't make a Google maps clone in a year. I think Apple maps is a really good product. But to expect it to be on par with Google maps is crazy.
The map data coverage is fine for probably most users. For those users it is inadequate for, however, it renders maps completely useless.
However, it is fundamentally flawed in the most important area: Search. The search just isn't good enough to come anywhere near comparison to Google Maps. Apple need to be focussing 90% of their efforts to catch up here - a tall order.
For me, that's not just a showstopper, it's barely even a minimum viable product.
So Apple didn't do anything amazing with their vector based maps, it was just new for their platform.
[1] http://support.google.com/maps/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answe...
Apple's maps are a clear second best, giving the impression they skimped on usability testing.
I suspect this is exactly the point Cue made when he fired him. They are looking for someone who can put in place the plan and team to deliver a Maps app that is superior to Google Maps over the long term, not this time next year.