Apple Announces Scott Forstall and John Browett Are Leaving the Company [Update]

Apple has issued a press release to note SVP of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, and John Browett, SVP of Retail, will be leaving Apple:

Apple also announced that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim.

[…]

Additionally, John Browett is leaving Apple. A search for a new head of Retail is underway and in the interim, the Retail team will report directly to Tim Cook.

The release notes the executive management changes will “encourage even more collaboration between the Company’s world-class hardware, software and services teams.”

• Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his role as the leader of Industrial Design.
• Eddy Cue will take on the additional responsibility of Siri® and Maps, placing all of our online services in one group.
• Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X®.
• Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of Apple’s wireless teams across the company in one organization, fostering innovation in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include the semiconductor teams, who have ambitious plans for the future.

The departure of Forstall so suddenly comes as a surprise. Sure, he was responsible for the Apple Maps fiasco in iOS 6, but the man was formerly profiled as a ‘mini Steve Jobs’ and even the next ‘CEO-in-waiting’. Forstall sold $38.7 million worth of vested Apple shares in May, with over 250,000 RSUs remaining at the time that do not vest until 2013-2016 as an incentive for him to remain with Apple. Well, it looks like that has changed.

The important questions: iOS needs a new chief–who will fill the void, aside from Craig Federighi? Where will Forstall head to next?

Browett’s departure doesn’t come across as a shock considering he was rumoured to be the source of internal Apple retail strife. He’s done, and his short stint at Apple reflects how management felt about his decisions for retail.

Below is the current list of executives on Apple’s website, but it won’t look like this for long (thanks to Skitch):

Update 1: Apple has updated their executive bio PR page as expected–Forstall and Browett are already gone:

…developing, refresh for updates…