According to Bloomberg, long-serving Apple executive Phil Schiller is stepping down from his roles leading the App Store and Apple events. Schiller will retain his Apple Fellow title and continue working on initiatives whose details have not been disclosed.
Schiller joined Apple in 1987 and took charge of the marketing division in 1997. He worked with Steve Jobs on the creation of the App Store in 2008 and assumed responsibility for managing the store in 2015. He contributed to the development of the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac products and gave presentations at numerous launches. In 2020, he handed over the role of senior vice president of marketing to Greg Joswiak.
The change was announced one day before hardware executive John Ternus is set to replace CEO Tim Cook, who will leave on September 1st. The App Store unit will report to Eddy Cue, who is responsible for services. Carson Oliver will continue to manage the store with support from Ann Thai, who is responsible for app distribution tools and third-party stores.
The App Store, which facilitated more than $1.4 trillion in transactions last year, had changed its distribution and payment policies because of regulatory interventions and lawsuits. Schiller’s departure marks the latest in a series of executive changes at Apple following the departures of Luca Maestri, Jeff Williams, Alan Dye, John Giannandrea and Lisa Jackson. Jennifer Newstead will replace Kate Adams.
Why it matters
Schiller’s departure from his role signifies more than the withdrawal from visible responsibilities of a figure closely associated with Apple’s product launches; it also represents a change in the App Store’s position within the company. The store’s reporting line to Eddy Cue indicates that decisions regarding app distribution and payments will be consolidated under services management, an area already under pressure to change due to regulatory interventions and lawsuits. Carson Oliver’s continuation of operations with support from Ann Thai indicates that the existing way of working will be maintained during the transition. The development leaves open the question of which initiatives, whose content has not been disclosed, Schiller will focus on as an Apple Fellow. At the same time, it reveals that management responsibilities are being redistributed following other senior departures at Apple.
Background
Apple is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 10 news reports mentioning the name in the past 90 days; the latest is dated August 31, 2026.