Oliver Haslam on April 26, 2019, 9:02 pm

As iPhone Sales Drop, Apple Loses Three Employees Part Of Jony Ive’s Industrial Design Team

Apple’s design team, headed by Jony Ive, has been responsible for some of the most iconic devices of all time, but it’s undergoing some changes, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal.

According to that report, three longtime design employees are leaving, or have already left. Rico Zorkendorfer and Daniele De Iuliis are said to have already left Apple’s design team, while Julian Hönig is slated to leave within the next few months.

As a combined threesome, they equate to around 45 years of experience in the team, and that’s sure to be a loss no matter how you look at it.

It’s not known why two of the three left Apple, but Zorkendorfer told The Wall Street Journal that the plan was to spend more time with his family, which is something many people say when they leave large companies like this.

When speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Above Avalon analyst Neil Cybart that it’s normal for team members to leave, especially with Apple now focusing on different products to those it was a while ago.

This group is all-powerful in Apple,” said Neil Cybart, who runs Above Avalon, a site dedicated to Apple analysis. “Industrial designers have the final say over the user experience found with Apple devices, and they really do work like a family in a way. No one would argue, though, that new blood is a bad thing.”

Apple is now very much focusing on software and its services at a time where iPhone sales have slowed amidst a similar story throughout the market.

(Source: WSJ)