Apple Shuffles Leadership Of Team Responsible For Audio Products

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. shuffled leadership at the hardware team responsible for audio features on AirPods, Macs and other products, tapping a new leader for an increasingly critical business. 

Gary Geaves, the company’s longtime vice president in charge of acoustics, is stepping down from the role, according to people familiar with the matter. He will be replaced by top deputy Ruchir Davé, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

The group, which has about 300 employees, is a core part of Apple’s growing AirPods and speaker businesses. It oversees sound and microphone technologies, and helped develop software features such as spatial audio that have become a selling point for AirPods, HomePods and the new Vision Pro headset. The group also operates audio testing labs at Apple’s Silicon Valley offices. 

The leadership change adds to upheaval at Apple’s hardware engineering group, which is run by John Ternus. Tang Tan, the company’s vice president in charge of iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods product design, recently departed. In preparation for that move, Geaves’ group was shifted in December to report to Matt Costello, the executive in charge of Beats headphones and the HomePod.

Geaves joined Apple in 2011 after running research and development at audio company Bowers & Wilkins. He will remain at Apple as an adviser to Costello. Upon Tan’s departure, Costello also assumed responsibility over the product design group for accessories. 

Read More: Apple Plans AirPods Overhaul With New Low- and High-End Models

Apple executives announced the latest leadership changes internally last week. A spokesman declined to comment on the moves.

The most notable products to come out of the acoustics group are the AirPods, which have quickly become a top seller — and a major reason people stick with the Apple ecosystem of devices. Over the past two years, Geaves has been focused on an end-to-end overhaul of the lineup. Consumers will see the fruit of that effort in the coming months, when Apple starts rolling out revamped models.

AirPods now bring in more than $15 billion a year for Apple, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg, and they lead the personal audio products market. 

Geaves was also key to development of the HomePod smart speaker, which wasn’t an immediate hit. That product, first released in 2018, has gained momentum in recent years thanks to cheaper models. The longtime Apple executive was promoted to the vice president level in 2019, Bloomberg News reported at the time. 

The acoustics team also has been involved in efforts to explore new products, such as a wall-mounted smart display and a combined iPad and HomePod device. 

People familiar with Apple’s acoustics organization believe Geaves has been planning to retire for the last few years and that the move to an advisory role is an interim step toward that. Over the past few months, a slew of executives have decided to leave, including DJ Novotney, a hardware engineering vice president who also reported to Costello, and senior designers such as Bart Andre.

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