Apple has announced that its long-time marketing chief Phil Schiller is leaving his current position and is being replaced by Greg Joswiak. The 60-year old Schiller, whose exact title was Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, joined Apple in 1987. In 1993 he left to join FirePower Systems and in 1995, he moved to Macromedia. He returned to Apple in 1997. He now becomes an Apple Fellow and will continue to run the App Store and Apple Events. Under his new position, he will continue to report to CEO Tim Cook.
Speaking of Cook, Apple’s Chief Executive said, “Phil has helped make Apple the company it is today and his contributions are broad, vast, and run deep. In this new role, he will continue to provide the incredible thought partnership and guidance that have defined his decades at Apple. Joz’s many years of leadership in the Product Marketing organization make him perfectly suited to this new role and will ensure a seamless transition at a moment when the team is engaged in such important and exciting work. I’m thrilled that the whole executive team will benefit from his collaboration, ideas, and energy.”
Schiller recently helped Apple plan and prepare for the virtual presentation of WWDC 2020. The Developers Conference was streamed online this year because of the coronavirus, and Apple put on an amazingly polished show. Schiller has seen just about everything during his years at Apple; he was featured prominently in many new product announcements even taking a phone call from Steve Jobs during the 2007 unveiling of the original iPhone.With Steve Jobs on medical leave in 2009, Schiller unveiled the iPhone 3GS. He also worked at Apple on marketing the of products like the iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, iPod, macOS and subsequent devices. He’s also credited with coming up with the click wheel interface used on the iPod.
“It has been a dream come true for me to work at Apple, on so many products I love, with all of these great friends — Steve, Tim, and so many more,” Schiller said. “I first started at Apple when I was 27, this year I turned 60 and it is time for some planned changes in my life. I’ll keep working here as long as they will have me, I bleed six colors, but I also want to make some time in the years ahead for my family, friends, and a few personal projects I care deeply about.”
Replacing Schiller as the SVP of Worldwide Marketing, as we mentioned at the beginning of this article, is Greg (Joz) Joswiak. During the past four years, he has been the vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing and has over 20 years of experience working at Apple handling product management and product marketing for several “breakthrough products including the original iPod and iPhone.” Apple says that he will be “responsible for Apple’s product management and product marketing, developer relations, market research, business management, as well as education, enterprise, and international marketing.”
This should be an interesting time for Joswiak with Apple set to release four new iPhone models at the same time, all of them expected to connect to 5G signals for the first time. And Apple could be introducing its first Apple Glass headset, a completely new product, as soon as this year. Other rumored products that Joswiak could be in charge of marketing include wireless charging pad AirPower and Apple’s Ultra-wideband tracking system Apple Tags.