Synopsis
Apple's hardware division sees a major restructuring under new chief hardware officer Johny Srouji. The combined hardware engineering and technologies teams will now operate across five key areas: hardware engineering, silicon, advanced technologies, platform architecture, and project management. This move aims to simplify operations and boost innovation for key products like the iPhone and Apple Watch.Listen to this article in summarized format
Johny Srouji, who was named chief hardware officer at the same time John Ternus was promoted to chief executive officer, made the disclosure in an email to Apple employees. He said the team will be organised into hardware engineering, silicon, advanced technologies, platform architecture and project management divisions.
The change aims to simplify the structure of his organisation, which will add thousands of employees and responsibility over the engineering of the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and other products.
Under Srouji, Apple’s hardware engineering unit will now be run by Tom Marieb, an Intel Corp. veteran who joined Apple in 2019 to run a team responsible for the quality and hardware integrity of products.
The silicon team will be overseen by longtime executive Sri Santhanam; platform architecture will be led by Tim Millet; advanced technologies will be overseen by Zongjian Chen; and Donny Nordhues will run program management.
Srouji also touched on Ternus’ appointment and CEO Tim Cook’s departure in his email, proclaiming that Cook “made the very best choice for who should succeed him.”
“Those of us who have had the chance to work closely with John know how thoughtful and capable he is,” Srouji said.
The decision to combine the hardware engineering and hardware technologies teams takes Apple back to a structure it used over a decade ago. The group was one team under former hardware chief Bob Mansfield but was split up upon his first retirement in 2012. That move eventually gave way to Ternus and Srouji rising within Apple.
The new management structure elevates Srouji, who told Cook last year that he was considering leaving for another role, to the clear top of the management chain under Ternus. The change helps cement hardware and engineering as the company’s central priorities.
Here is Srouji’s full memo to staff:
Team,
This afternoon, Apple announced that Tim will be transitioning to executive chairman and that John Ternus will become our new CEO in September. Tim has been such an exceptional leader for the past 15 years and it has been an honor to work with him. Like Tim, I agree that John is going to make a wonderful CEO. Those of us who have had the chance to work closely with John know how thoughtful and capable he is, and I believe Tim has made the very best choice for who should succeed him.
As part of this transition, I’ve been asked to step into the role of Chief Hardware Officer and to combine the hardware technologies and hardware engineering teams under a single organization. I am excited to bring these teams together, to integrate them further, and to help us innovate in an even bigger way than we already do. As you know, we have a very exciting road map ahead, and I believe there is no limit to what we can achieve together.
As we move forward, I have decided to organize most of the team primarily under five areas, with Tom Marieb leading hardware engineering, Sri Santhanam leading silicon across all of our products, Zongjian Chen leading advanced technologies, Tim Millet leading platform architecture, and Donny Nordhues leading EPM across the combined organization. Over the coming weeks I plan on having discussions with the broader leadership team about other aspects of this new structure.
I know this represents a meaningful change, but I am confident that it will be successful because of all of you. Thank you for all the work you’ve done to make Apple the best hardware company on the planet. The future is bright — and we are going to invent it.
