Apple hits pause on some projects to ‘reassess priorities’

Apple is currently undergoing an executive team shakeup, a new report from the Wall Street Journal claims. As a result of the reorganization and personnel changes, several projects have had the pause button hit.

This is reportedly so that managers can “reassess priorities.” While no specific projects are named, some workers are supposedly “rattled” by the changes.

It’s no surprise that Apple would be having a rethink of its strategies. Now that the days of crazy iPhone growth appear broadly over, it has to find other ways of keeping up its momentum. A big part of this is the company’s push toward Services. Apple’s rumored March 25 event will supposedly focus on this business.

A big year for Apple

Apple also has a massive year ahead of it in terms of new launches. A recent report from respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shed some light on what sounds like a packed year for hardware. Apple also has other in-development projects ranging from an Apple Car to a possible AR headset.

Finally, Apple is shaking up the people leading different teams. Retail VP Angela Ahrendts is out, replaced by longtime Apple veteran Deirdre O’Brien. Meanwhile, John Giannandrea is the new senior VP of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Elsewhere, Bill Stasior, head of the Siri team at Apple, has reportedly been relocated within Apple. And recently Apple’s Home efforts got a boost with the addition of Sam Jadallah, former CEO of smart lock company Otto.

None of this is necessarily bad news, of course. A company with as many moving parts as Apple is going to inevitably shake things up every few years. In Apple’s case, however, this is happening after a period of several years of status quo. If you joined Apple during this time, it’s no surprise that changes could rattle you.

Source: WSJ (paywall)