Executive shakeups are usually boring and uninteresting and usually no one cares about them. But this is a big one. In a press release released this afternoon Apple announced that SVP of iOS Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year. In addition to this John Browett, the head of retail is also out.

Tim Cook will be taking responsibility as an interim head of retail until a replacement is found. Craig Federighi will be taking Scott Forstall’s position and will be leading both the iOS and OSX teams. Siri and Maps will be taken over by Eddy Cue. iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and iCloud are all part of the same group under Eddy Cue.

Why such a sudden change? It’s anyones guess. Scott Forstall has been an integral part of the iOS development since the iPhone 2G days and was pretty close to Steve Jobs. Usually a very enthusiastic personality, it’s somewhat of a shock to see him leave Apple. Perhaps the poor performing Maps service and a relatively uninteresting iOS 6 update were the last straw? We won’t know anything unless we hear it from the horse’s mouth. Until then here is the customary press release.

CUPERTINO, California—October 29, 2012—Apple® today announced executive management changes that will encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams. As part of these changes, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will add more responsibilities to their roles. Apple also announced that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim.

“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 (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design. His incredible design aesthetic has been the driving force behind the look and feel of Apple’s products for more than a decade.

Eddy Cue will take on the additional responsibility of Siri® and Maps, placing all of our online services in one group. This organization has overseen major successes such as the iTunes Store®, the App Store℠, the iBookstore℠ and iCloud®. This group has an excellent track record of building and strengthening Apple’s online services to meet and exceed the high expectations of our customers.

Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X®. Apple has the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems, and this move brings together the OS teams to make it even easier to deliver the best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms.

Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future.

Additionally, John Browett is leaving Apple. A search for a new head of Retail is underway and in the interim, the Retail team will report directly to Tim Cook. Apple’s Retail organization has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level who will continue the excellent work that has been done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services for customers.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

Let us know what you think about them leaving in the comments below.