Apple Reorganizes Health and Fitness Divisions Ahead of Former COO’s Retirement

Apple is reportedly reorganizing some of its divisions as the retirement of former Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams nears.

The company will move its health and fitness divisions and place them under the oversight of its services chief, Eddy Cue, Bloomberg reported Friday (Oct. 10), citing unnamed sources.

In addition, the Apple Watch operating system will now be overseen by the company’s head of software engineering, Craig Federighi, according to the report.

Apple did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

According to the Bloomberg report, both Cue and Federighi have decades of experience at the company, helped launch some of its biggest products and have been gaining influence.

The report added that Apple wanted to combine its health and fitness divisions’ efforts and that it plans to launch a new subscription service called Health+. The Health+ service will provide users with personalized recommendations on nutrition, exercise and sleep with the help of an artificial intelligence-powered assistant, per the report.

Apple announced in July that Williams would retire later this year to spend more time with friends and family.

The company said at the time that Williams would transition his role as COO later that month to Apple Senior Vice President of Operations Sabih Kahn. It said he would continue reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook and overseeing the company’s design team, Apple Watch, and health initiatives, and then would retire later in the year.

Cook said in the July press release that Williams had “helped to create one of the most respected global supply chains in the world; launched the Apple Watch and overseen its development; architected Apple’s health strategy; and led our world-class team of designers with great wisdom, heart and dedication.”

Bloomberg reported in March that Apple was working on an AI agent that can dispense health advice and that the project marked the company’s latest and perhaps strongest push into the health field.

During Apple’s third quarter earnings report in July, the company said the revenues of its wearables, home and accessories category, which includes Apple Watch, fell 9% to $7.4 billion. Services revenue was up 13% to $27.4 billion.