◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek July 29, 201917JOBS:
JUSTIN
SULLIVAN/GETTY
IMAGES;
COOK:
KYODO/AP
IMAGES;
WILLIAMS:
PAUL
MORRIS/BLOOMBERG.
DATA:
COMPILED
BY
BLOOMBERG
strengthoftheirdesign,andthedesignteamhas
longbeenthecenterofitscorporateculture.But
IvewasseenbymanyasthelastJobs-levelproduct
geniuswithexecutiveclout.AsCookapproaches
hiseighthanniversaryasCEO,theoperations
teamhassolidifieditsinfluenceoverproduct
development.Cookdoesn’tappeartobeleav-
inganytimesoon,andWilliams’smoveintothe
on-deckcirclerepresentsa long-termbetonthat
model,accordingtocurrentandformeremploy-
ees.“Jeffis 95%operationsand5%product,”says
someonewhoknowshim.“Applehasbecomean
operationscompany.”
“Onedoesn’tnecessarilyneeda visionaryasCEO
ofAppleaslongasthere’sa visionaryinthecom-
panythattheCEOcanworkwith,”saysMichael
Gartenberg,a formerApplemarketingexecutive.
“TimCookhadJonyIve.Thequestionis,withIve
gone,whois thevisionaryatthecompanythatcan
guidethenextbigthing?”Appledeclinedtocom-
mentormakeWilliamsavailableforaninterview.
LikeCook,WilliamsgrewupintheAmerican
South,gotanMBAfromDuke,andspentyearsat
IBMCo.beforejoiningAppleinthelate1990s.He
startedin 1998 asa procurementmanager,nego-
tiatingwithcomponentsuppliers,andworked
hiswayuptoJobs’sexecutiveteamin 2010 as
seniorvicepresidentofoperations.UnderCook,
hebecameknownforcarryinga massivebinder
ofdataonproductdevelopmentandoperations
plansthathecouldquicklyreferencetoanswer
theCEO’squestionsduringmeetings,oftenwhile
clad,likehisboss,ina uniformofjeansandan
untuckeddressshirt.
WilliamstookoverleadershipoftheAppleWatch
developmentteamin 2013 afterpitchingthesmart-
watch’suseasa healthtool.Hespokeata product
launchforthefirsttimein2015,announcingthe
company’shealthresearchefforts.Sincehisappoint-
mentasCOOlaterthatyear,he’sannouncedeach
subsequentversionofthesmartwatch,unveileda
nine-figureinvestmentinglassmakerCorningInc.
ata KentuckyplantnexttoSenateMajorityLeader
MitchMcConnell,andtakenonmoreresponsibility
inApple’sday-to-dayproductdevelopment.
Inhiscurrentrole,Williamshada widerange
ofresponsibilitiesevenbeforehetookoverthe
company’shardwareandsoftwaredesigngroups.
BesidesmanagingtheAppleWatch,heoverseesthe
entiresupplychain,materialssourcing,fitnessand
healthresearchandappdevelopment,AppleCare
customersupport,andsomeofthefinanceteams.
Williamsis a hikingandbikingaficionadowho’s
knowntoarriveatworkbefore 7 a.m. and stay late
into the evening, often cycling between meetings.Hehasa reputationasaneven-keeled,evensoft-
spoken presence. “Sometimes there will be a con-
ference call, Jeff will be on it, but nobody knew until
he chimed in halfway through,” says someone who’s
worked with him. While Williams can be direct and
demanding in meetings with other executives, cur-
rent and former colleagues say he sometimes relies
heavily on a circle of lieutenants to play bad cop in
larger engineering-team meetings. With the design-
ers, his sensibility doesn’t always translate. “He
comes from the operations side, and the metrics
being applied there often have very little meaning in
design,” says a longtime member of the design team.
The Apple Watch has been Williams’s biggest
test. Months before the first model’s release in
2015, some employees testing the device began
having allergic reactions to the type of nickel used
in its casing, a not-uncommon issue with wrist-
wear. Williams made the call to scrap thousands of
watches Apple had already produced and ramp up
a separate manufacturing line with a different kind
of nickel. Employees also noticed that the “taptic
engine,” a Williams priority that allows the watch to
vibrate more quietly than a typical phone part when
it receives notifications, was prone to long-term fail-
ure from corrosion. Again, Williams decided not
to send out the few thousand watches that were
affected. Employees got them instead.
These choices spared many early adopters from
getting defective early models of the Apple Watch.
They also helped make the watch tough to find in
stores for months after its official release, and some
online shipments were delayed, too. When custom-
ers could find some, they might be the watch mod-
els shipped with 18-karat gold cases, which cost as
much as $17,000—conceivable for wealthy Rolex
fans, but a poor investment given that Apple’s
model would be obsolete in a few years.
The Apple Watch wasn’t an immediate hit on
the level of the iPhone or even the iPad, and the
first model was sluggish and lacked must-have apps.
The company discontinued the exorbitant gold ver-
sions after a year; it sold them in the low tens of
thousands, but few after the first two weeks. Still, as
the watch’s hardware and software have improved,
Apple has quietly taken control of the market for
internet-connected fitness wristbands, accounting
for more than half the sales in the category last year,
according to researcher Strategy Analytics.
Williams now holds weekly meetings to gauge
the progress of all new hardware. Although the pro-
cess is formally called NPR, or New Product Review,
some employees call this the “Jeff Review.” People
close to the design team say they trust Williams to
value and help implement their ideas rather than“One doesn’t
necessarily
need a
visionary
as CEO of
Apple as long
as there’s a
visionary in the
company that
the CEO can
work with”iPhone$165bServices$40bMaccomputers$25biPad$18b● Apple’s revenue
for fiscal year 2018Wearables, home, and
accessories $17b