Phil Schiller expected to increasingly become Apple's 'public face'
Though Tim Cook has taken the place of Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple, a new profile on the company's marketing chief, Phil Schiller, says he is expected to become the "public face" of Apple going forward.
Schiller's expanded role is expected by Bloomberg Businessweek to be apparent at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference, where the senior vice president of Apple's Worldwide Product Marketing department is expected to present much of the keynote presentation on June 11. There, Schiller and other members of Apple's executive team are expected to introduce new Macs, the next version of iOS, and provide more details on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.
If those products aren't hits, Schiller "knows he'll get more than his fair share of blame," authors Peter Burrows and Adam Satariano wrote, citing a person who recently discussed Apple's future with the executive.
"Schiller has the daunting task of keeping Apple cool," they wrote. "And that's harder to do now that the company is a $535 billion behemoth, subject to antitrust reviews and labor-practice criticisms, rather than the underdog he rejoined in 1997."
The profile also revealed that although Jobs and Schiller had "little in common" when it came to personal interests, the two carried a very similar business sense. In fact, Schiller's understanding of the perspective of Jobs was so well-known at Apple that he earned the nickname "Mini-Me," a reference to the character played by Verne Troyer in two "Austin Powers" movies.
He also earned the nickname "Dr. No," from the character James Bond, as a result of Schiller's "ruthlessly disciplined" nature when choosing and shooting down ideas for new products and features.
Schiller also has a history of working closely with Apple's development community, and even responds to e-mails sent by customers. One such e-mail allegedly sent by Schiller this week, shared with Cult of Mac, explained why the Rogue Amoeba application "AirFoil Speakers" was temporarily removed from the App Store.
"Rogue Amoeba's app added a feature that accessed encrypted AirPlay audio streams without using approved APIs or a proper license and in violation of Apple's agreements," Schiller allegedly explained. "Apple asked Rogue Amoeba to update their app to remain in compliance with our terms and conditions."
Schiller was particularly active in sending e-mails to developers in 2009, in which he personally responded to criticism of Apple's App Store approval process. His outreach, and Apple's internal changes, helped to quiet some developers who expressed concern over Apple's lack of transparency in reviewing App Store software.
Schiller's expanded role is expected by Bloomberg Businessweek to be apparent at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference, where the senior vice president of Apple's Worldwide Product Marketing department is expected to present much of the keynote presentation on June 11. There, Schiller and other members of Apple's executive team are expected to introduce new Macs, the next version of iOS, and provide more details on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.
If those products aren't hits, Schiller "knows he'll get more than his fair share of blame," authors Peter Burrows and Adam Satariano wrote, citing a person who recently discussed Apple's future with the executive.
"Schiller has the daunting task of keeping Apple cool," they wrote. "And that's harder to do now that the company is a $535 billion behemoth, subject to antitrust reviews and labor-practice criticisms, rather than the underdog he rejoined in 1997."
The profile also revealed that although Jobs and Schiller had "little in common" when it came to personal interests, the two carried a very similar business sense. In fact, Schiller's understanding of the perspective of Jobs was so well-known at Apple that he earned the nickname "Mini-Me," a reference to the character played by Verne Troyer in two "Austin Powers" movies.
He also earned the nickname "Dr. No," from the character James Bond, as a result of Schiller's "ruthlessly disciplined" nature when choosing and shooting down ideas for new products and features.
Schiller also has a history of working closely with Apple's development community, and even responds to e-mails sent by customers. One such e-mail allegedly sent by Schiller this week, shared with Cult of Mac, explained why the Rogue Amoeba application "AirFoil Speakers" was temporarily removed from the App Store.
"Rogue Amoeba's app added a feature that accessed encrypted AirPlay audio streams without using approved APIs or a proper license and in violation of Apple's agreements," Schiller allegedly explained. "Apple asked Rogue Amoeba to update their app to remain in compliance with our terms and conditions."
Schiller was particularly active in sending e-mails to developers in 2009, in which he personally responded to criticism of Apple's App Store approval process. His outreach, and Apple's internal changes, helped to quiet some developers who expressed concern over Apple's lack of transparency in reviewing App Store software.
Comments
I'm not sure about this. I've only started using Apple products since 2009 with the iPhone 3G, now the proud owner of a 4S, but I've seen the keynotes and if I had to rank the presenters, I'd say the go like this:
1) Steve Jobs, I see what they mean by the reality distortion field.
2) Scott Forstall, I think his iOS 5 presentation was brilliant and the closest to the Steve Jobs effect I've ever seen.
3) Phil Schiller, but I don't feel like I need to buy what he's selling...
4) The Head of Internet Services guy...
What do you guys think?
Personally I think now is the time to start bringing through the next generation with fresh new ideas. See who naturally rises to the top.
Whenever Cook or Schiller presents they are always going to be compared to Steve.
Re-invention breeds innovation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ombra2105
I'm not sure about this. I've only started using Apple products since 2009 with the iPhone 3G, now the proud owner of a 4S, but I've seen the keynotes and if I had to rank the presenters, I'd say the go like this:
1) Steve Jobs, I see what they mean by the reality distortion field.
2) Scott Forstall, I think his iOS 5 presentation was brilliant and the closest to the Steve Jobs effect I've ever seen.
3) Phil Schiller, but I don't feel like I need to buy what he's selling...
4) The Head of Internet Services guy...
What do you guys think?
You are very close. I would say more like:
1. Steve Jobs
2. Jony Ive (doesn't typically present but has a compelling and mesmerizing monologue in videos)
3. Scott Forstall
36. Bob Mansfield, SVP of Hardware Engineering (has a giddy, schoolboy enthusiasm for his hardware)
47. Tim Cook (although Tim seems to get better every time he presents)
97. Eddy Cue, SVP of Internet Software and Services
162. Phil Schiller
8.74391 x 10(1,436). Anyone who presented at that Google Maps disaster the other day
Thank goodness! Besides Steve, Phil rocks a keynote. He was made for this.
Well this is welcome news, as Tim Cook is about as exciting to watch as two sloths humping. I'd prefer they hand the podium over to Jonny Ive, personally, but that's just an unrealistic pipe dream.
Just make sure they hang on to Scott Forstall, one of the original crew from NeXT. In fact, I wouldn't have minded seeing Scott as CEO.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/scott-forstall-the-sorcerers-apprentice-at-apple-10122011.html
With the death of Jobs at age 56, Forstall has now become an even more important and visible member of Apple’s leadership team. As the person in charge of Apple’s mobile software division, he oversees the iOS operating system, which runs the iPhone and iPad, devices that account for 70 percent of Apple’s revenues. At 42 he’s the youngest senior executive at Apple. He may also be the best remaining proxy for the voice of Steve Jobs, the person most likely to channel the departed co-founder’s exacting vision for how technology should work. “He was as close to Steve as anybody at the company,” says Andy Miller, who headed Apple’s fledgling iAd group before leaving the company this summer. “When he says stuff, people listen.”
Forstall, who went to work for Jobs right out of college, is one of the key architects of Apple’s current success. In less than five years, iOS—the latest version, iOS 5, ships this week—has become one of the most valuable corporate assets on earth. His name is on about 50 Apple patents that cover everything from how application icons are laid out on the iPhone screen to the method of turning off a device with a finger swipe. On a crucial 2009 patent for a touchscreen device controlled by finger commands, “Forstall, Scott” is listed second, right after “Jobs, Steven P.”
In many ways, Forstall is a mini-Steve. He’s a hard-driving manager who obsesses over every detail. He has Jobs’s knack for translating technical, feature-set jargon into plain English. He’s known to have a taste for the Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG, in silver, the same car Jobs drove, and even has a signature on-stage costume: black shoes, jeans, and a black zippered sweater. (He favors Reyn Spooner Hawaiian shirts for normal days at the office.)
Forstall is like Steve in one other important way: He can be, in what some of his co-workers might call an understatement, a polarizing figure. He’s won the intense loyalty and allegiance of many of his underlings, and his engineers are among the hardest workers at the company. At the same time, according to several former Apple employees, a number of high-ranking executives have left the company because they found working with Forstall so difficult. That sentiment, it seems, has not been limited to fellow executives. One former member of the iOS team, a senior engineer, describes leaving Apple after growing tired of working with Forstall and hearing his common refrain: “Steve wouldn’t like that.” Similarly frustrated engineers from Forstall’s group have been hired by other Silicon Valley companies, according to one CEO. (Forstall and Apple declined several requests to comment; Steve Dowling, a company spokesman, says Apple does not cooperate on media profiles of its top executives.)
Office politics are nothing unusual in Corporate America, nor are ambitious and divisive managers. Even if Forstall is controversial, he may just be what Apple needs now that Jobs is gone—a detail-oriented obsessive who gets things done, egos be damned. “I once referred to Scott as Apple’s chief a–hole,” says former Apple software engineer Mike Lee, who left the company in 2010. “And I didn’t mean it as a criticism. I meant it as a compliment. You could say the same thing about Steve Jobs.”
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
Well this is welcome news, as Tim Cook is about as exciting to watch as two sloths humping. I'd prefer they hand the podium over to Jonny Ive, personally, but that's just an unrealistic pipe dream.
I am guessing Jonny Ive doesn't do it because he doesn't want to. I am not sure he possess the right amount of showmanship. Personally I think they should find someone completely different - someone younger and cooler. Someone who really loves the products and can present them without overselling them. Everyone (including Steve Jobs when he did it) come across as too rehearsed, throwing words like 'revolutionary', 'magical', 're-imagined' about with free abandon. So for me, a little less salesmanship but more enthusiasm. Nothing sells better than genuine enthusiasm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
You are very close. I would say more like:
...
2. Jony Ive (doesn't typically present but has a compelling and mesmerizing monologue in videos)
...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
... I'd prefer they hand the podium over to Jonny Ive, personally, but that's just an unrealistic pipe dream.
Jonny Ive is a great designer but an awful presenter. He is generally nervous, sweats profusely, and stumbles over his words.
One only has to see the pictures and video of him being knighted to see all of these traits in full swing.
IMO even in the video presentations comes over as insincere and shallow (I'm not saying he is, but he sure comes across that way to me).
Scott Forestall is probably the most exciting and confident but I think comparisons to Steve Jobs are mistaken. Steve Jobs was ruthless at work but came across on stage like a favourite cool uncle. Scott Forestall comes across as pure evil on stage almost as if he cannot hide his obvious contempt for the audience. He is neither "natural" nor convincingly "nice" IMO.
All I know is that I get nervous when marketing execs start running too much of the show. They're not selling handbags.
At least, not yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by paxman
I am guessing Jonny Ive doesn't do it because he doesn't want to. I am not sure he possess the right amount of showmanship. Personally I think they should find someone completely different - someone younger and cooler. Someone who really loves the products and can present them without overselling them. Everyone (including Steve Jobs when he did it) come across as too rehearsed, throwing words like 'revolutionary', 'magical', 're-imagined' about with free abandon. So for me, a little less salesmanship but more enthusiasm. Nothing sells better than genuine enthusiasm.
Justin Long?
Ew. Really? He's probably a nice guy, but hes no public figure. He comes off as smarmy and fake.
I do like Phil better as a speaker. But he is not the one to take over. Scott Forstall needs to be the one. Even Steve Jobs knew this. Big news companies know this http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44904886/ns/business-us_business/t/scott-forstall-sorcerers-apprentice-apple/
Why have we not seen him talk at a conference since Steve Jobs passed? Who there is holding him back. He knows what he is talking about because he helped build it. He talks awesome in presentations and uses everything he has learned from Steve! Come on Apple.
Craig Federighi has always come across as confident and polished in his presentations, the couple of occasions I've seen him at keynotes.
I think they should do a team effort, Tim, Scott and Phil with others as needed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JackTheRat
Craig Federighi has always come across as confident and polished in his presentations, the couple of occasions I've seen him at keynotes.
I was wondering if someone would finally mention him! I really like his presentations - like you said, he's confident and polished, but at the same time he can stay loose and doesn't just read off of a script. That whole "we're going to talk about all 3000 APIs" bit was great, especially the way he didn't just stop at mentioning it, but actually acted like he'd really do it. I found that hilarious.