After over three decades at the company, Apple (AAPL 0.17%) marketing chief Phil Schiller is transitioning to a new role, the Mac maker announced this week. Schiller's longtime marketing lieutenant Greg "Joz" Jozwiak will take over worldwide marketing and join the highest echelons of the most valuable company in the world.
Here's what investors need to know.
"Joz" is now Apple's marketing chief. Image source: Apple.
Schiller's new job
Schiller has long been a fixture at Apple events, often unveiling the company's latest and greatest hardware products. That was typically a task that Steve Jobs liked to perform prior to his 2011 death. Schiller will become an "Apple Fellow," an exclusive club consisting of about a dozen former executives that have had meaningful contributions to the company's success, including co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Under the new arrangement, Schiller will still be in charge of Apple Events and the App Store while continuing to report to CEO Tim Cook. Services chief Eddy Cue was previously in charge of the App Store before Schiller took over the digital storefront in 2015.
The App Store is currently the focus of an antitrust investigation by U.S. lawmakers over concerns that Apple's fees are excessive and undermine competition. Critics have also argued that App Store policies are inconsistent and often applied arbitrarily, which the company denies. The App Store is an important growth driver in the tech titan's booming services business, which now has over 550 million paid subscriptions across platforms.
The move isn't entirely unexpected, as Joz has become increasingly prominent and visible to the public in recent years, handling media interviews and onstage product introductions. Leading Apple's marketing division is no small task. The department handles everything from product management and marketing to developer relations to market research and more. Joz will undoubtedly receive a hefty compensation package as part of the promotion, which has not yet been detailed as of this writing.
Schiller, an avid car enthusiast, suggested that he wanted more time with friends and family, as well as to pursue "a few personal projects I care deeply about."
Apple also refreshed the iMac
In other Apple news this week, the Cupertino tech giant refreshed its flagship all-in-one iMac. This isn't the redesigned overhaul that has been rumored in recent months, but rather an internal spec bump to Intel's newest 10th-generation processors and AMD's next-generation Radeon Pro graphics. Apple is adding a nano-texture matte option to the display, which was first introduced on the $5,000 Pro Display XDR.
Apple has been using the same overall tapered design for the iMac since 2012, a remarkably long design cycle for the PC industry. The company is said to be working on a new design that resembles the iPad Pro, which may potentially even incorporate a TrueDepth camera and Face ID.
