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Jeff Williams speaks with a customer at an Apple Store in California in 2024. Photo: Bloomberg . |
In an announcement on July 8th, Apple stated that Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams will retire at the end of the year. This represents a significant change in Apple's leadership, especially given the company's current turbulent period.
Williams will step down as COO in July before retiring at the end of the year. Currently, he will still oversee the design and wellness departments. Sabih Khan will take over as COO from Williams, while the design department at Apple is expected to report directly to CEO Tim Cook.
Jeff Williams' achievements
At 62 years old, Williams was once considered Tim Cook's successor due to their titles and similarities. However, the relatively short age difference (2 years) and Williams' desire to retire early caused Apple to change its plans.
Currently, John Ternus, Vice President of Hardware Engineering, is considered the most likely candidate to take over the CEO position after Cook retires, according to Bloomberg sources.
“Clearly, he wasn’t seen as Tim Cook’s replacement. He’s close to Tim’s age, so (that) doesn’t really mean much. The operations team at Apple will really miss Jeff,” Bob Mansfield, former Apple Chief Hardware Engineer, said of Williams.
Williams joined Apple in 1998 before becoming COO in 2015. Prior to that, he worked at IBM since the 1980s. At Apple, one of Williams' achievements was the ability to build a supply chain capable of handling hundreds of millions of devices annually, sourcing components from thousands of suppliers worldwide .
For over 10 years, Williams was a close senior associate of Cook, overseeing supply chain operations, Apple Watch development, and the AppleCare customer service division. Given his involvement in numerous key decisions, Williams' departure is seen as one of the major personnel changes at Apple.
“Jeff’s importance and contributions to Apple were immense, though not always visible to the public. I am saddened as a shareholder. Time has passed and the old leadership team has almost fallen apart,” shared Tony Blevins, former Vice President of Purchasing at Apple.
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Jeff Williams at the Apple WWDC 2025 conference. Photo: Bloomberg . |
Apple's announcement did not specify who would take over Williams' remaining responsibilities, including Apple Watch engineering and health technology development.
Earlier this year, Apple transferred some hardware projects, such as Vision Pro and robotics, to Ternus, while the Siri voice assistant and visionOS software were handed over to Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi.
“Jeff’s true legacy is the incredible teams he built. While he will be greatly missed, some of his future work has already been handed over to these amazing people,” CEO Tim Cook said in the announcement.
Challenges for the successor
Commenting on his successor, Mansfield suggested that Sabih Khan would be difficult to replace Williams because of his significant influence throughout the company.
"Sabih is very much like Tim Cook. Jeff's mind is a bit more focused on products, while Sabih is simply an excellent executive, and his management style might be similar to Tim's," commented Matthew Moore, a former operations engineer at Apple.
Moore added that Khan had run the operations team at Apple, so things could run smoothly. However, his managerial skills in other departments, previously overseen by Williams, were crucial.
Khan has 30 years of experience at Apple, joining the executive team in 2019 where he was responsible for managing the supply chain, including purchasing and manufacturing. In his new role, he will face numerous challenges, from tariffs to slowing iPhone sales.
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Sabih Khan currently holds the position of Vice President of Operations at Apple. Photo: Apple . |
According to Bloomberg , the leadership change comes at a time when Apple's operations are facing significant challenges.
Over the past few months, Apple has shifted iPhone production from China to India to mitigate the impact of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. In the coming years, the company may implement further changes, including moving more assembly operations out of China and incorporating robots and advanced technology into its production processes.
The new role means Khan will be involved in running more departments, including the struggling AI division. Prior to this, a leader in Apple's AI modeling team unexpectedly joined Meta.
Apple also faces legal challenges, including mandatory changes to the App Store in the EU and a lawsuit from the US Department of Justice related to its $20 billion /year deal with Google. These developments are occurring against a backdrop of Apple's less-than-innovative hardware products.
As COO, Williams frequently appeared at events to talk about new products, revolving around the Apple Watch and health. Khan is somewhat more private, but he will need to appear in public more often when taking on the COO role.
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Jeff Williams will leave his position as Apple's COO in July. Photo: Bloomberg . |
With this change, Apple internally expects Khan's subordinate, Priya Balasubramaniam, to take on a larger role in supply chain management. Last year, Apple promoted Molly Anderson to Vice President of Hardware Design, reporting directly to Williams.
Williams' departure shows that Apple's leadership is changing. Last year, Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri also resigned in preparation for retirement. Dan Riccio, former Chief Hardware Engineer at Apple, has retired in 2024.
Phil Schiller, Vice President of Global Marketing, also moved down to a smaller role overseeing the App Store in 2020. A year before that, "design wizard" Jony Ive left Apple to start his own company.
According to Bloomberg , most of Apple's senior executives are entering retirement age, so a complete change in the company's leadership has long been anticipated by insiders.
Source: https://znews.vn/bien-dong-lon-tai-apple-post1567243.html
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