AAPL Apple Inc

By Tripp Mickle 

Apple Inc. said Wednesday its head of communications was leaving the company, the latest of several senior executive departures this year as the tech giant reorients its business amid flagging iPhone sales.

Steve Dowling joined Apple in 2003 and has led its communications effort since 2014 after longtime communications chief Katie Cotton left the company. As vice president of communications, he has overseen internal and external messaging, striving to keep Apple's product plans secret and preserve its brand reputation as a leading tech company.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller will oversee the communications team on an interim basis, the company said. Mr. Dowling told staff of his decision in a memo, saying he had decided to step away from his role and would help with the transition through next month. He plans to spend more time with his family, he said.

In a statement, Apple said Mr. Dowling had helped tell the company's story and share its values with the world. "He leaves behind a tremendous legacy that will serve the company well into the future," it said.

Mr. Dowling's planned departure comes at a time of transition for Apple, which is trying to make itself more of a services and entertainment company as sales of its iPhone and other devices have stalled in recent years.

The company also has lost several high-level executives this year, most notably design chief Jony Ive, who said in June he would leave the company. That came two months after the departure of retail chief Angela Ahrendts.

Last week, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger also resigned from Apple's board after seven years of service, as the two companies prepare to launch competing video-streaming services.

Mr. Dowling's tenure has been marked by Apple's run of successful iPhone launches and more public engagement by CEO Tim Cook, as well as by a series of communications hurdles he helped navigate, with a mixture of defiance and occasional contrition. They included Europe's challenge of the company's tax practices, controversy over software that throttled the performance of some iPhones and the company's opposition to U.S. government pressure to unlock an iPhone used by a terrorist shooter.

Write to Tripp Mickle at Tripp.Mickle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2019 17:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

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