Apple Names Jeff Williams COO

Apple named Jeff Williams as its new chief operating officer on Thursday, promoting from his previous position as senior vice president of operations. Phil Schiller is getting some new duties, too, and Johny Srouji is joining the executive team as senior vice president for Hardware Technologies.

Jeff Williams named Apple COO"Jeff is hands-down the best operations executive I've ever worked with," said Apple CEO Tim Cook, "and Johny's team delivers world-class silicon designs which enable new innovations in our products year after year."

Mr. Williams joined Apple in 1998 as the company's head of worldwide procurement and played an important role in getting the original iPhone on the market. In 2004 he was promoted to vice president of operations, and in 2010 became senior vice president of operations.

Johny Srouji has served as Apple's vice president of Hardware Technologies for eight years. During his tenure, Apple saw big advancements in its chip and battery technology and was part of the team behind the development of the A4 processor.

Phil Schiller is still senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, but is now also responsible for the Mac, iOS, and Apple TV App Stores. According to the company, Mr. Schiller is in charge of almost all of Apple's developer-related functions.

Apple is also bringing Tor Myhren in early 2016 as vice president of Marketing Communications. Mr. Myhren comes from the advertising agency Grey Group where he served as chief creative officer. He replaces Hiroki Asai who is retiring after 18 years with the company.