Apple to Drop Industrial Design Chief Role Following Departure of Evans Hankey [Report]

Apple is planning to drop its industrial design chief role following the departure of Evans Hankey, according to Bloomberg.

The iPhone maker's vice president of industrial design, Evans Hankey, won't be replaced when she leaves the company in the coming months, according to people with knowledge of the decision, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Rather than appoint a new executive, Apple's group of about twenty industrial designers will allegedly report to Jeff Williams, the company's Chief Operating Officer. Some of Apple's longest tenured designers will also be given bigger roles.


That group will get larger roles as part of the shift. But Williams decided that none would be named the new head and that the entire team will report to him. That move links Apple's operations group more closely with design — an arrangement that's irked some of Apple's creative staffers. It will also elevate Williams, who is seen as a possible successor to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.

Besides design, Williams is also responsible for global operations, the supply chain, AppleCare customer support, software engineering for Apple Watch, and health efforts.

Though it would appear that Williams' responsibilities are numerous, Apple felt that bringing in an outsider would be the death of the team. It also didn't want to put Alan Dye, head of software design, in charge of the hardware design team, as this likely would have ruffled feathers.

More details in the full report linked below...


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