Recently, Apple is facing an unprecedented wave of executive departures. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman mentioned in a report on December 9 that Apple's head of product design for the iPhone and Apple Watch is leaving his job. Tang Tan, vice president of product design, is scheduled to leave in February next year, a change that will lead to a restructuring of Apple's most critical product line, according to people familiar with the matter. Tang Tan reports directly to John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, while Richard Dinh, head of product design for iPhone, will report directly to John Ternus. In addition, Kate Bergeron, the head of hardware engineering who is in charge of the Mac team, will take over the design of the Apple Watch. Meanwhile, Steve Hotelling, a senior executive in charge of touchscreen technology, health sensors and the Face ID interface, will also be leaving.
Since the second half of 2022, Apple has lost about a dozen senior executives. Most of these departing executives are senior employees of the company with more than 15 years of service. Most of them hold the title of "vice president", second only to senior vice presidents who report directly to CEO Tim Cook. The executives cover several of Apple's core businesses, including industrial design,** retail, information systems, cloud computing, hardware and software engineering, privacy and security, emerging market sales, subscription services, and procurement. Foreign media analysis pointed out that Apple's management responsibilities are increasing day by day, the company is becoming more and more bureaucratic, and the expansion of enterprise scale has led to increasingly prominent governance problems such as cross-departmental games.
According to Bloomberg, this wave of resignations may be just the beginning, signaling that Apple's management may be undergoing a massive change from top to bottom. In the past 2022, Apple has encountered a series of challenges such as iPhone 14 sales falling short of expectations, and the fourth-quarter financial report showing a year-on-year decline in revenue and net profit. In addition, Apple's share price is nearly 30% in 2022, which is equivalent to a reduction in compensation for executives who rely on incentives. Apple is also restructuring its overseas sales operations, particularly with a new focus on the Indian market, marking the first time that India will become a separate sales unit for Apple.
Apple's current wave of executive departures not only represents a series of changes to top management, but also reflects the company's strategic realignment in responding to market and internal challenges. With a new management team and strategic priorities in place, Apple is likely to show a different direction and market performance in the future.