Phil Schiller is reportedly stepping down from leadership of Apple’s App Store and from his role overseeing the company’s product events, while staying at Apple as an Apple Fellow. According to reporting from The Verge, Schiller will continue working for the company in that Fellow role.
The reported change would move Schiller out of two highly visible jobs after a long Apple career. He joined the company in 1987, became its head of marketing in 1997, and helped Steve Jobs launch the App Store in 2008. Apple put him in charge of the software marketplace in 2015.
Schiller helped shape Apple’s software storefront
Schiller’s transition matters because Apple’s app marketplace has served as a central part of the company’s device ecosystem since its 2008 launch. He helped establish the service with Jobs and has directed it since 2015, giving him a long connection to the system through which software reaches Apple hardware.
Reassigning that oversight marks an internal handoff for a business area closely linked to the iPhone and iPad. Schiller’s tenure also spans Apple’s changing approach to selling and promoting its products, from his marketing leadership in the late 1990s through the growth of its mobile software platform.
Product-event oversight will also change hands
His departure from event oversight shifts responsibility for the presentations Apple uses to introduce hardware and software. Schiller has contributed to the development and promotion of the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac, products that have regularly featured in the company’s public launches.
The Apple Fellow title keeps Schiller inside the company rather than ending his tenure. Apple has relied on him in senior positions for multiple decades, covering marketing, product promotion and its app storefront.
Apple has not publicly confirmed the reported changes in the information available, and no timetable has emerged for the transition. The company also has not named successors for the marketplace or product-event roles, or described the initiatives Schiller will handle as an Apple Fellow.
This article was produced with AI assistance from multi-source reporting and is published under our editorial standards.
