Apple folds health and fitness into Services, splits Apple Watch oversight

As Apple COO Jeff Williams prepares to retire at the end of the year, the company is reorganizing several of the divisions that once reported to him, according to Bloomberg. Here’s what’s changing.

In a new report, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple will move its health and fitness teams under Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue, while watchOS will shift to Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, who has also recently been put in charge of the troubled Siri revamp.

Meanwhile, John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering and a rumored frontrunner to succeed Tim Cook as CEO, will “assume sole control of Apple Watch hardware engineering,” as Williams “had overseen new versions” of the device.

The report adds that Apple started shifting some of Williams’ duties soon after he announced his departure:

Finally, the report notes that the shift of Apple’s health and fitness teams under Cue is well-timed, as the company plans to launch the AI-powered “Health+” subscription service next year.

Recently, day-to-day operations for the health and fitness teams have been assigned to Sumbul Desai, relieving who will now report directly to Cue.

What’s your take on this leadership reshuffle? Let us know in the comments.