Apple is completely restructuring its App Store team, splitting it into two separate departments as the manager who led it for over a decade leaves the company.
Samuel Axon for Ars Technica:
There will now be one team for the well-known Apple-operated App Store and another for alternative app stores in the European Union. Apple recently partially opened the platform to third-party app stores. This was in response to the Digital Markets Act, a set of European regulations designed to break up what lawmakers and regulators see as app store monopolies.
App Store Vice President Matt Fischer, who has headed the platform since 2010, will leave the company.
Carson Oliver will lead the Apple App Store division, while Ann Thai will lead the alternative app stores team. Oliver was previously senior director of business management at Apple, while Thai was worldwide product director for the App Store and Apple Arcade.
Note from MacDailyNews: Fischer’s social media post and email to employees via LinkedIn:
I have some professional news to share and sent this message to my Apple colleagues this afternoon:
Dear friends and colleagues,
After 21 years at Apple, I have made the decision to leave our incredible company. This has been on my mind for some time, and as we also reorganize the team to better meet new challenges and opportunities, now is the right time to pass the baton to two outstanding leaders on my team – Carson Oliver and Ann Thai – who are both more than ready for this next chapter.
When I joined Apple in 2003, we were just launching the iTunes Music Store. I started as a contract worker helping to sign indie labels to iTunes, and was soon hired full-time as one of the first members of the marketing team. Together, we built the iTunes brand, grew our customer base, expanded internationally, and formed partnerships that fueled our growth. I loved working closely with artists, record labels, TV networks, film studios, and aspiring podcasters to help them succeed on our platform.
In 2007, everything changed with the launch of the iPhone. I was in the audience at Macworld that day, and the energy in that room when Steve unveiled the product was unlike anything I’d ever experienced in my career. The App Store followed a year later, in 2008, with 500 apps. Apple’s goals were clear and remain true today: to create a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, while providing a great business opportunity for developers. Since then, we’ve expanded the App Store to iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, and launched Apple Arcade. Leading the global App Store business for the past 15 years and working with our amazing team and the Apple developer community has been the highlight of my career.
During my two decades at Apple, I’ve been fortunate to work with some truly inspiring leaders, including Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Eddy Cue, and Phil Schiller. I’m deeply grateful for the wisdom, support, and guidance they’ve given me. I also want to thank my incredible colleagues for their commitment to our customers, to our developers, and to each other. I’m immensely proud of what we’ve built together – a platform with over 1 billion customers worldwide, with developers generating over $1 trillion in total revenue and sales in the App Store ecosystem in 2022 alone.
Going forward, Carson and Ann will lead the team and I will be available until mid-October to assist with the transition. After that, I plan to take some time off and make memories with my wife Renee and our two teenage sons before exploring new opportunities. Please stay in touch…
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your support, inspiration and friendship. It has been an honor and a privilege to work with you all.
Preferably,
Frosted
Please support MacDailyNews – and enjoy subscriber-only articles, commentary, chat, and more – by subscribing to our Substack.: macdailynews.substack.com. Thanks!
Support MacDailyNews at no additional cost by using this link to shop on Amazon..
