Cupertino-based manufacturer Apple just made an important announcement, confirming Jeff Williams as their new Chief Operating Officer, making him the second most important person in the company. According to The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Williams was former Senior Vice President and a longtime trusted lieutenant of the company’s current CEO, Tim Cook.
Jeff Williams‘ appointment comes in the wake of the recent questions about Apple’s growth prospects and the company’s plans of fortifying its senior ranks by naming a new COO and realigning other posts.
A key position for the company
Mr. Williams joined the team in 1998 and has played an important role in the development of Apple’s first smartwatch. Besides this, he is in charge with overseeing the supply chain and operations, being often referred to as “Tim Cook’s Tim Cook”. Considering this, it’s obvious that his role is essential to Apple.
Since 2011, when Tim Cook was confirmed as CEO, after Steve Jobs’ death, Apple had no COO, so Jeff Williams fills a vacant position. Still, this wasn’t the only announcement made by the manufacturer this week, since other two new positions were confirmed, making changes to an executive team that remained basically the same since 2012.
The first changes in Apple’s team in the last three years
Angela Ahrendts, formed CEO of Burberry Group PLC was appointed as the head of retail, while Luca Maestri, previously at Xerox Corp., is the new Chief Financial Officer.
Currently, Apple is considered as the world’s biggest company by market capitalization and also the most important brand. Back in 2014, they made a big step forward and released bigger-screen smartphones, a move which significantly boosted their sales. Despite this, analysts are predicting a fall in the fiscal year, ending in September 2016. This could be the first decline since 2007, when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone.
