In yet more top-level Apple news, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams plans to step down pending his retirement later this year. As expected, he will be replaced by existing Senior Vice President of Operations Sabih Khan.
The move cast shockwaves across the Apple-watching industry as Williams was widely expected to eventually replace Tim Cook as Apple CEO. The news doesn’t appear to have shocked Apple, however, which describes the retirement as part of a long-planned succession.
Supply and demand
The news is still significant, given the extent to which the company is embroiled in problems across its supply chain — principally from a US government committed to using blunt instruments in the form of tariffs to impact its business.
Khan, who evidently helped drive Apple’s ongoing transition to internationalize its supply chain, takes a high-pressure position in which he must find some way to balance US nationalistic demands against the grim realities of the technology supply chain. Managing this correctly is of major importance to Apple.
To make sure Khan can focus on that task, Apple has changed some of the responsibilities he will face in his role. Along with his COO responsibilities, Williams also oversaw Apple’s design team, Apple Watch, and health initiatives. But that oversight is being shared elsewhere across the company’s top team, leaving Khan free to get business done. (The Apple design team — which currently reports to Williams — will report directly to Cook starting later this year, for example.)
What Apple said
Williams has been Cook’s right-hand man for decades. He helped build the incredibly complex Apple supply chain, capable of churning out millions of devices every year made using components from across the planet. He has made a huge contribution to every Apple product we use.
“Jeff (Williams) and I have worked alongside each other for as long as I can remember, and Apple wouldn’t be what it is without him. He’s helped to create one of the most respected global supply chains in the world; launched Apple Watch and overseen its development; architected Apple’s health strategy; and led our world-class team of designers with great wisdom, heart, and dedication,” said Cook.
Who is Sabih Khan?
A 30-year Apple veteran, Khan became senior vice president for operations in 2019 and has been in charge of all aspects of Apple’s global supply chain for the past six years. Before joining Apple’s procurement group in 1995, Khan worked as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader at GE Plastics.
“Sabih is a brilliant strategist who has been one of the central architects of Apple’s supply chain,” said Cook. “While overseeing Apple’s supply chain, he has helped pioneer new technologies in advanced manufacturing, overseen the expansion of Apple’s manufacturing footprint in the United States, and helped ensure that Apple can be nimble in response to global challenges. He has advanced our ambitious efforts in environmental sustainability, helping reduce Apple’s carbon footprint by more than 60 percent. Above all, Sabih leads with his heart and his values, and I know he will make an exceptional chief operating officer.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Sabih for 27 years and I think he’s the most talented operations executive on the planet,” said Williams, the outgoing COO. “I have tremendous confidence in Apple’s future under his leadership in this role.”
Succession
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports that John Ternus, the senior hardware engineering chief, is now the most likely replacement for Cook once he retires. But Gurman speculates Ternus will handle Apple Watch hardware, with the operating systems and health software to be handled by Head of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and Fitness+ to become a part of Services.
That’s logical and sounds highly credible, though does call into question Apple’s ability to deliver the profoundly powerful health-related features we all think the company is working on.
This is unlikely to be the last planned transition from Apple’s top team, all of whom are about the same age.
The company must now figure out how to create a complex succession plan to create an executive team that spans numerous ages, as many of the leaders of its existing senior team inexorably head toward well-earned retirement. This sure has been a long week for Apple.
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