Apple splits App Store team into two separate divisions

Apple Park in Cupertino, California

Apple is fully restructuring its App Store team, splitting the team into two separate divisions as the executive who has run it for longer than a decade exits the company.

Samuel Axon for Ars Technica:
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There will now be one team for the familiar, Apple-run App Store, and another one to handle alternative app stores in the European Union. Apple recently partially opened the platform to third-party app stores in response to the Digital Markets Act, a set of European regulations meant to break up what legislators and regulators deemed to be app store monopolies.

App Store Vice President Matt Fischer, who has been at the helm of the platform since 2010, will leave the company.

Carson Oliver will lead the Apple App Store division, while Ann Thai will head up the alternative app store team. Up to this point, Oliver has been a senior director of business management at Apple, while Thai has had the title of worldwide product director for the App Store and Apple Arcade.

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MacDailyNews Note: Fischer’s social media post and email to employees via LinkedIn:

I have some professional news to share and sent out this message to Apple colleagues earlier this afternoon:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

After 21 years at Apple, I’ve made the decision to step away from our incredible company. This has been on my mind for some time, and as we are also reorganizing the team to better manage new challenges and opportunities, now is the right moment to pass the baton to two outstanding leaders on my team — Carson Oliver and Ann Thai — both of whom are more than ready for this next chapter.

When I joined Apple in 2003, we were launching the iTunes Music Store. I started as a contractor, helping to sign indie labels to iTunes, and was soon brought on 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 propelled our growth. I loved working closely with artists, record labels, TV networks, film studios, and emerging podcasters, helping them thrive on our platform.

In 2007, everything changed with the introduction 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 offering developers a great business opportunity. Since then, we’ve expanded the App Store to iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro, and we launched Apple Arcade. Running the global App Store business over the past 15 years and working with our amazing team and Apple developer community has been the highlight of my career.

Throughout 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 provided 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 billings and sales in the App Store ecosystem in 2022 alone.

Going forward, Carson and Ann will be leading the team, and I’ll be available through mid-October to assist with the transition. After that, I plan to take some time off, creating memories with my wife Renee and our two teenage sons, before exploring new opportunities. Please stay in touch…

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support, inspiration, and friendship. It’s been an honor and a privilege to work with all of you.

Best,
Matt
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