The successor to the next generation iPhone design is "Cook behind Cook"

In the past 100 days, Apple has seen a number of major changes in its management. In addition to the departure of Angela Ahrendts, who once promoted the "luxury strategy", Jony Ive, Apple's chief design officer who has served for 27 years, will also start his own business in the second half of this year.

According to Apple's management adjustment plan, after Ive leaves Apple, Apple's hardware and software design teams will be led by Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams.

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He is from IBM operations, and his experience is similar to Cook's.

Compared to Cook and Ive who often show up, the name "Jeff Williams" may not be known by many people because his job is mainly responsible for the company's global operations and customer service management.

But if you talk about the product that Williams once led the development of - Apple Watch, then you will definitely remember his name.

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According to Apple's official website management, Williams worked at IBM from 1985 to 1998 in operations and engineering positions. In 1998, Williams joined Apple as global procurement director, responsible for product planning, procurement and logistics.

At that time, Cook, the current CEO of Apple, had just been recruited by Jobs from Compaq Computer to join Apple as the company's chief operating officer, which is Williams' current position. Like Williams, Cook had worked at IBM for 12 years and later served as Apple's chief operating officer. He also has a degree from Duke University.

Before taking charge of the development of Apple Watch, Williams' most outstanding achievement was his participation in the design of iPhone 4, which of course was also related to the operations he was in charge of at the time.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing Apple internal employees' recollections, when designing iPhone 4 in 2008, Williams led the development of iPhone 4 together with "Father of iPod" Tony Fadell. But in terms of innovation, Williams' performance was more impressive than Cook's at the time.

At first, other members of the development team questioned Williams' abilities. After all, in the development team's impression at the time, Williams was not like Fadell. He came from operations rather than product development.

But in the subsequent communication with the team, Williams demonstrated his product development capabilities to the engineers with his outstanding engineering insights.

In his memory, Williams once discussed with thermal engineers at a development meeting about the impact of switching to a glass back cover on the performance of the iPhone 4. This obviously changed the engineers' impression of Williams 180 degrees, because at that time, Williams was just a manager who was good at "planning".

He was good at making spreadsheets, but he acted like a negotiator when talking to engineers. His performance in the meeting was so natural that it was impressive. In June 2010, the iPhone 4 was officially launched. This phone changed the plastic body design of the 3G and 3GS era and adopted a double-plane "glass + metal" middle frame structure. This design was used until the iPhone 4S a year later, and it is also one of the most classic designs of the iPhone.

After the product development of iPhone 4, Williams has been in the leading role of the company's operations management and product development, including several popular product lines such as iPad, iPod and Mac. With his outstanding supply chain collaboration and operations capabilities, Fortune magazine named Williams in 2011:

Tim Cook's Tim Cook. In 2015, Williams was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Apple's global operations and customer service. While in charge of operations, Williams also led the development of another product, the Apple Watch we mentioned earlier.

Apple Watch: From iPhone "accessory" to independent wearable device

Williams was praised as a "pragmatist" in a commentary in the Wall Street Journal. This evaluation is actually inseparable from Williams' leading role in the development of Apple Watch and promoting the product concept of "healthy living."

The first generation of Apple Watch was launched in September 2014 and was released in April 2015. Two months after the release of the watch, Williams was interviewed by Vox and described the development process of Apple Watch at that time:

Simply put, migrating new technology to users' wrists is a cautious decision, but it is an inevitable trend, so Apple wants to make users like and get used to this device through practicality.

However, the first generation of Apple Watch at that time was still limited by its hardware and software configuration. Although it provided health monitoring for users, it was mostly used as a "message viewer". Therefore, although the industry generally gave positive reviews to Apple Watch at that time, it was often associated with "iPhone accessories".

However, although Apple Watch sold millions of units in the first year after its launch, this was not what Williams really wanted. Apple Watch should be a wearable device that allows users to pay attention to their health, rather than an accessory like headphones or data cables.

The Apple Watch Series 2 released in 2016 added a GPS chip and 50-meter water resistance, allowing it to record exercise information while the user is exercising.

In the following year's Apple Watch Series 3, Apple added support for eSIM, allowing it to operate independently even without being connected to an iPhone, making it a truly independent smart wearable device.

There was a scene in the 2017 fall conference that I still remember vividly. Williams was on stage introducing the Apple Watch Series 3. When talking about eSIM calls, Williams immediately called a friend who was canoeing in the lake. The friend in the picture answered the call using Apple Watch. The call did not affect the friend's exercise, and she was still able to continue paddling with both hands.

After four generations of development, Apple Watch has successfully separated itself from an "iPhone accessory" to become a truly independent wearable device.

For example, if you don't have a mobile phone with you at the gym, a pair of AirPods and an Apple Watch can meet your simple needs for calls and music; for example, when you are exercising, it can record your health and detect your heart rate; for example, if you accidentally fall, it can also help you call for help...

Of course, if you really don’t use the above functions, the various straps of Apple Watch have become the fashion label of this product. “You may not be attracted by its functions, but if you see the various combinations in the Apple Store, I believe you will be eager to try it.”

According to the global smart wearable device sales data for Q1 2019 released by Counterpoint Research in May this year, Apple Watch continued to hold the title of "World's No. 1 Smartwatch" with a market share of 35.8%, far ahead of Samsung, which ranked second with a market share of 11.1%.

In other words, between January and March this year, one in every three smartwatches sold worldwide was an Apple Watch.

Although Williams has never announced the specific sales volume of Apple Watch, based on the market share and the $5.1 billion in revenue (wearable devices + accessories + home) announced by Apple in March, it is estimated that the sales volume of Apple Watch in Q1 has reached millions.

Can this attempt to go against Apple's promotion tradition bring the company back to the top?

This is the first executive with an operations background to directly take over core hardware and software development. Just like Williams led the development of the iPhone, some commentators still questioned Williams' ability after taking over Ive's class.

The reason is that Apple has never had a precedent of transferring a chief operating officer to the core product design and development. Although Cook, who has a similar background to Williams, has also served as a chief operating officer, Cook was promoted to chief executive officer (CEO) and has never led hardware and software design matters.

Therefore, after taking over Ive's hardware and software design team, what kind of surprises Williams will bring us remains to be seen in the next two years.

However, the problem that Williams has to solve is not only product design, but also product sales. Since last year, global iPhone sales have declined significantly compared with previous years. Although Apple launched three iPhones at different prices last year and slightly adjusted the prices of third-party channels at the beginning of this year, it still did not help the total sales much.

The Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that what Williams will do now is to lead a development team, help conceptualize products, turn new ideas into elegant designs, and become a collaborative link between software, hardware, and operations departments.

In the past, Apple has always been at the forefront of the mobile phone industry, bringing surprises to users every year. However, in recent years, Apple seems to have slowed down its pace of innovation in the iPhone, which has had a certain negative impact on iPhone sales.

However, letting Williams, who is familiar with the supply chain, lead the design team may change Apple's current situation. Analyst Carolina Milanesi believes that Williams' operations and development experience over the past 10 years can bring a different perspective to product development:

If everyone starts from the design perspective, it may be impossible to develop the best products. Perhaps, after Williams takes over, his operational experience and pragmatism can bring new changes to Apple's product line. However, it seems a bit early to draw a conclusion now, so let's wait for new products and sales to give us the answer.