Apple’s Phil Schiller Steps Down from Running App Store, Product Events

Apple Inc.’s Phil Schiller, one of the most visible and influential executives across both the Steve Jobs and Tim Cook eras, has stepped down from his role leading the App Store and product events.

The 66-year-old executive, who was Apple’s senior vice president of marketing until leaving that job in 2020, made the latest change in recent days, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

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.

The move comes just ahead of John Ternus assuming the chief executive officer role Tuesday. Cook, who took the reins from Jobs in 2011 and ran Apple for 15 years, will become executive chairman.

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.

A spokesperson for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.

Schiller’s job change, employees believe, is a big step toward the executive ultimately retiring. And it underscores one of the biggest challenges facing Ternus as CEO: He’ll have to contend with 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.

Read More: Apple Executive in Charge of Pay and Wallet Services Is Leaving

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.

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.

Read More: Apple’s Ternus Takes the CEO Reins With AI His First Priority

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.

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.

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.

Read More: Apple to Hold Sept. 9 Foldable iPhone Launch to Start Ternus Era

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. He’s now handing that oversight 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.