Design guru Jony Ive was recently given a new title at Apple, now being crowned the "chief design officer" of the company.
Many are speculating, however, that the new title isn't really a promotion for Ive, but is more of an exit path for the long-time near-legend to eventually leave the company.
In fact, many experienced analysts and followers of Apple see the so-called promotion as the end of an era for Apple. The suggestion is that the new title will allow Ive to travel more, spend a little more time with family and oversee a transition into an era of design not as inspired by the mind of Jony Ive.
It's important to remember what was actually announced by Apple. Richard Howeth and Alan Dye will now be the heads of the hardware and software design teams. Ive himself will watch over both of these teams, but he will also play an important role in designing the company's stores and its upcoming spaceship campus.
Of course, the timing of the news is also important. Apple announced the change on memorial day, an important U.S. holiday as well as a bank holiday in the UK, essentially avoiding a sudden dip in its stock when traders were made aware of the news.
What these things point to is something a little more than a promotion. In fact, in an article written by Stephen Fry, who was the writer charged by Apple to break the news to the world, it is clearly stated that Jony Ive will "travel more." What this seems to suggest is that Ive may end up moving back to England with his family. If this is true, it will put him in a position to continue working with Foster + Partners, which he has been doing for a while, as well as to oversee the massive new factory that Apple built in Ireland. Not only that, but Ive could certainly oversee the design of new Apple products from England.
Now, it's important to mention that such a move might actually mean the end of Ive's time at Apple, a suggestion that many Apple fans fear. Ive, almost certainly, was free to travel as much as he wanted under his old contract.
Another suggestion is that the announcement was made in order for Apple to be able to continue keeping Ive's salary a secret, largely because of the fact that he will no longer have a "department" that he oversees, making him not really a manager.
Whatever Jony Ive does in the next few years, most are hoping that he will stay at Apple. Ive is the mastermind behind many of Apple's products, and it will be a big loss for the company to see him go.
