Apple said Jeff Williams, chief operating officer, will retire at the end of the year and Sabibh Khan, senior vice president of operations and architect of the company's supply chain, will take over this month.
Williams, who also oversees Apple design and Apple Watch, will continue to report to CEO Tim Cook before he retires at the end of the year. After Williams retires, Apple's design team will report directly to Cook.
As for the big picture, Williams was seen as a potential successor to Cook. Now John Temus, senior vice president of hardware engineering, is seen as a Cook successor.
In a statement, Cook said Williams helped create Apple's global supply chain, launched Apple Watch and oversaw its development and launched the company's health strategy.
Kahn becomes chief operating officer at an interesting time as Apple tries to expand its manufacturing footprint in the US and respond to a bevy of challenges due to geopolitics, tariffs and sustainability goals. Cook said Kahn, a 30-year Apple veteran, "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."
According to Apple, Kahn has been vice president of operations since 2019.
Concerns about executive turnover have been prominent in the last two years. Those concerns aren't likely to go away considering Meta has reportedly hired the head of Apple's foundation models team.
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