Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg:
Apple Inc. has hired Timothy D. Twerdahl, the former head of Amazon.com Inc.'s Fire TV unit, as a vice president in charge of Apple TV product marketing and shifted the executive who previously held the job to a spot negotiating media content deals.
And:
Twerdahl's hiring frees Pete Distad, who previously occupied the role, to help lead Apple's content deal efforts, headed by Eddy Cue, the person added. Distad joined Apple in 2013 after serving as a senior vice president of content distribution at video streaming service Hulu.
Twerdahl, who previously worked at Netflix and Roku, will report to Greg Joswiak, who took over broad product marketing responsibilities shortly after Phil Schiller became point on all things App Store.
There have been some other reorgs recently that involved getting key people, VPs included, into teams where they can make a real difference in terms of the focus on, and quality of, Apple's key products and features.
In Twerdahl's case, it also frees up Pete Distad, the previous head of Apple TV marketing under Joz/Schiller, to join Eddy Cue's team and help out with content deals. It's an interesting move given how the last Apple TV rolled out.
Apple's senior vice presidents, including Phil Schiller and Eddy Cue, have so much on their plates they probably haven't seen those plates in a decade. All these moves put people in place to help with their ever-increasing portfolios. That includes all the new products and services launched in the last few years and the ones still in development.
It also shows, when contrasted with stories about retention, the dynamism of the markets and technology Apple's into and exploring these days, from wearables to transport to entertainment.
Makes you wonder what and who will show up next.
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Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.
