Apple Reveals Big Changes to Executive Team

Today, Apple announced some unexpected executive management changes.

Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue, and Craig Federighi will see more responsibilities to their roles. But Scott Forstall, one of Apple’s most famous execs, is leaving the company in 2013. So is John Browett, who was head of Apple’s retail team.

“We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The amazing products that we’ve introduced in September and October, iPhone 5, iOS 6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications, could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services.”

Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. Eddy Cue will take on the additional responsibility of Siri and Maps, placing all of Apple’s online services in one group.

Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X. Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization.

Apple says the shakeups will “encourage even more collaboration between [our] hardware, software, and services teams.”

Scott was the senior vice president of iOS, one of Apple’s most important divisions. This could be a signal of big changes to the next generation of Apple’s mobile platform.