Apple has just announced some management changes and reshuffle of responsibilities. One of the more prominent appointments is of veteran Jeff Williams to the position of chief operating officer. He has been serving as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing for almost eight years. This appointment is especially important because Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been running without a COO since 2011 when CEO Tim Cook took the helm of the iPhone maker.
Williams rises through Apple’s ranks like Tim Cook
According to The Wall Street Journal, Williams is sometimes called “Tim Cook’s Tim Cook,” as Cook held the position of COO while Steve Jobs was CEO in the years before he resigned for health problems and soon afterword passed away. Cook also held the position of senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing before being named COO, just like Jeff Williams.
Among Williams’ accomplishments at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was overseeing the Apple Watch’s development. His role at the company has been expanding over the years and also included overseeing the company’s supply chain and operations. Essentially, today’s appointment makes the role Williams has been playing at Apple official as he has basically been serving as COO for years without having the name. In a press release announcing the management changes, Cook praised Williams as “hands-down the best operations executive I’ve ever worked with.”
Although there are no signs that Tim Cook will be leaving the top post at Apple any time soon, there have apparently been murmurings that Williams might be his successor one day. However, The Wall Street Journal cites unnamed sources as saying that this isn’t necessarily the case. They reportedly said that many current Apple executives have the talents and capabilities that would be needed to take the lead at the iPhone maker.
Apple also makes other adjustments
Another key appointment Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced today was Marketing Chief Phil Schiller’s new responsibility of overseeing the App Store. Schiller’s new responsibilities include extending Apple’s ecosystem. He now oversees all of Apple’s developer-related functions.
“Phil is taking on new responsibilities for advancing our ecosystem, led by the App Store, which has grown from a single, groundbreaking iOS store into four powerful platforms and an increasingly important part of our business,” said Cook in a statement released this morning.
Previously this role was held by Eddy Cue, who is in charge of services. His role has been expanding over the years with the additions of iTunes Radio and Apple Pay. Also if there really is a streaming TV service in the works, it can be assumed that Cue will oversee it.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) also named semiconductor design team lead and former IBM and Intel executive Johny Srouji to the position of senior vice president of Hardware technologies and hired advertising veteran and Grey New York Chief Creative Officer and President Tor Myhren as vice president of Marketing Communications. Myhren won’t be joining Apple until January.