Apple veteran Phil Schiller latest to step down, will hand over App Store, Product Events, keep Fellow role: Report

Phil Schiller, another prominent name from the Apple fold, is stepping down from his role leading the App store and product events, Bloomberg reported citing sources. The 66-year-old, who was Apple's senior vice president of marketing till 2020, put his papers in recently, they added.

While there is no official word, the speculation comes ahead of CEO Tim Cook handing over the tech giant's reigns to John Ternus on Tuesday. Cook ran Apple for 15 years, since 2011 after taking over from founder Steve Jobs. He will become executive chairman.

A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment, the report said.

Schiller's career with Apple

Over his career at Apple, Schiller was known for introducing many of the company’s most important products and being a key decision maker on a number of new devices, including the iPhone, iPad, iPod and many Mac models. Alongside Jobs, he also led the creation of the App Store.

While he is dropping his last two major responsibilities, Schiller is remaining at the company with his Apple Fellow title and told employees that he’ll be working on unspecified initiatives, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the change hasn’t been announced.

For Schiller, the recent App Store role went far beyond overseeing a platform that’s estimated to generate more than $30 billion a year. He was the primary decision maker on approving or rejecting controversial apps and dealing with software developers, the report noted.

He also led the charge on implementing new App Store policies and revenue share rates in response to lawsuits and new regulations. And he had to contend with Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc. in a long-running trial over in-app purchases, it added.

Beyond the App Store, Schiller also continued to lead Apple’s events team after leaving the marketing role in 2020. That group is responsible for functions globally, including the company’s product launches.

Why the change now?

Schiller’s job change, employees believe, is a big step toward the executive ultimately retiring, as per the report. Further, it underscores one of the biggest challenges facing Ternus as CEO — working around a slew of departures by veteran leaders at the company.

A number of key executives have already left or are preparing to go. That includes Apple’s previous general counsel and the head of its Pay division, who are both set to depart in October, Bloomberg News has reported.

Longtime operations chief Jeff Williams, former head of hardware Dan Riccio, finance chief Luca Maestri, and head of environment and government affairs Lisa Jackson also have stepped down or shifted into smaller roles.

Who will take over from Schiller?

With the latest change, Apple is moving responsibility for the App Store over to the services division run by executive Eddy Cue. He previously oversaw the App Store until 2015, when that job was given to Schiller and the marketing department. Cue is taking on a more influential role under Ternus, Bloomberg has reported.

On a day-to-day basis, the App Store will be led by Carson Oliver, a veteran of the department who is now reporting directly to Cue. Two years ago, Schiller split up responsibility for the App Store among two direct reports, Oliver and Ann Thai.

Oliver was already overseeing the App Store itself while Thai was responsible for tools related to app distribution and work on third-party marketplaces. In the new setup, Thai is reporting to Oliver. Cue’s territory will also now include the Apple Arcade gaming service, with the leader of that team, Alex Rofman, reporting to Oliver as well.

Oversight of Apple’s events team will be handed to Nola Weinstein, who has led that function as Schiller’s deputy since 2023.

Weinstein will be reporting to Kristin Huguet Quayle, the company’s vice president of communications and public relations. Her department had previously overseen the events function until around 2019. Apple is holding its next event on Sept. 9 to introduce the foldable iPhone and new Apple Watches.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)