[ad_1]
The Apple (AAPL) head of iPhone and Apple Watch design has left the company. According to Bloomberg’s Mark GurmanTang Tan, who worked on devices including the iPhone, Watch, and Apple’s AirPods, will leave Apple in February.
Tan reported to Apple’s SVP of hardware design John Ternus, who reports to CEO Tim Cook. Tan’s departure means Apple is moving employees around within its design teams to fill vacancies, according to Gurman.
Apple shares were relatively flat after the news, with the company’s market cap remaining above the $3 trillion mark.
Apple’s design team has gone through a series of changes in recent years following the departure of former design chief Jony Ive in 2019. He continued to work with Apple through his design company LoveFrom until 2022, according to the New York Times.
The design is very important to Apple, which sells its products not only as high-tech pieces, but also information.
The iPhone is Apple’s single most important product, generating $200.6 billion of the company’s $383.3 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2023. But iPhone sales were flat throughout the year, due to consumers pulled back on spending on luxury devices amid rising prices and high interest rates. Overall, the iPhone business earned $5 billion less in 2023 than in 2022.
The Apple Watch is the most popular smartwatch in the world and is a great way for Apple users to rely on the company’s products. Apple doesn’t release specific numbers for the Watch business, instead folding it into its hardware, home, and utility divisions.
That business also slowed in 2023, generating $39.8 billion in revenue in the company’s fiscal year and $41.2 billion in 2022.
But there is hope for a change in 2024. According to Counterpoint Researchin October, cell phone sales increased year-on-year for the first time in more than two years.
“After this strong growth in October, we expect the market to grow (year-on-year) in Q4 2023 as well, laying on a path of gradual recovery in the quarters of come,” the research firm said in a statement.
Daniel Howley is the technology director at Yahoo Finance. He has been covering the tech industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielHowley.
Click here for the latest technology news affecting the stock market.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance