Apple Display Veterans Step Back as New Leaders Take Over

Two executives who have spent roughly three decades each at Apple are handing over responsibility for its displays, as part of a broader series of engineering leadership changes reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Victor Yin now oversees much of Apple's display development following years of preparation under Wei Chen and John Zhong. Chen and Zhong, each with approximately 30 years at the company, are taking on more limited responsibilities as advisers. Gurman describes their eventual departures as part of a succession process that has been underway for several years.

Apple's October promotions also include engineering leaders Rajesh Ambati, Louie Sanguinetti, and Derek Shaeffer, who have all become vice presidents. Their work covers connectivity hardware and software, with Sanguinetti's contributions to wireless hardware stretching back decades.

The appointments follow Apple's decision to expand Johny Srouji's role to chief hardware officer, bringing hardware engineering and hardware technologies under his leadership. A subsequent reorganization of product development sought to improve coordination between the teams designing Apple's chips and devices.

Gurman also reports that some hardware program managers have been laid off in recent weeks as Srouji and CEO John Ternus remove management layers. The cuts follow earlier reports of Ternus' efforts to accelerate product development and reduce the number of positions between engineers and senior leadership.

Elsewhere at Apple, App Store head Carson Oliver has received a vice president title, while Steve Smith has taken charge of corporate development. Both appointments were reported earlier this month.