Apple Announces Scott Forstall To Leave

Apple has just announced some major changes in its management, which will see a major player in the uppermost levels of the company step down, as well as some big shuffles to who’s in charge of what.

Officially, most of the upper echelons will be taking on more responsibility, as part of a move to “encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams.” But also announced as part of the news, Senior Vice President in charge of iOS Scott Forstall will be stepping down. He’s headed out next year, and will serve as an advisor to Tim Cook in the interim.

So what’s going on with the shakeup? Here’s the official description of who’s going to do what:

Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple’s products for more than a decade.

Eddy Cue will take on the additional responsibility of Siri® and Maps, placing all of our online services in one group. This organization has overseen major successes such as the iTunes Store®, the App Store℠, the iBookstore℠ and iCloud®. This group has an excellent track record of building and strengthening Apple’s online services to meet and exceed the high expectations of our customers.

Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X®. Apple has the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems, and this move brings together the OS teams to make it even easier to deliver the best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms.

Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future.

Also headed out the door is John Browett, who was in charge of retail.

There hasn’t been any news yet about why this change has taken place. You can bet the next few days will see an explosion of rumors and discussion trying to get to the bottom of what’s happening. Is it because people believe iOS has stagnated? Maybe putting Ive in charge of design is pushing against the faux leather that’s infested Apple over the last year. Who knows, but it’s going to be interesting.