Apple Lays Off 100 Employees Ahead Of iPhone 16 Launch

Ahead of its iPhone 16 launch event on September 09, Apple is reportedly laying off nearly 100 employees from its Services division.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the exercise will affect various teams, including the Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore.

The company has reportedly notified the employees affected by the layoffs on Tuesday.

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The affected workers, who were part of various teams within Senior Vice President Eddy Cue’s services group, requested anonymity as the news has not been officially announced.

It was not immediately clear how many employees Apple had in its services division, with the company’s approximately 161,000 full-time equivalent employees as of Sept.30, 2023, according to a Reuters report.

The iPhone maker has been re-organising teams amid shifting priorities, including artificial intelligence.

Apple Books has been deprioritised within the company’s services portfolio, despite plans for future feature updates, according to sources.

This latest round of layoffs follows earlier job cuts by Apple as part of a broader wave of tech industry consolidation.

In April, the company laid off more than 600 workers in California, marking its first significant post-pandemic job reductions.

The company also paused work earlier this year on its upcoming high-end Vision headset and canceled a project to create its smartwatch displays.

According to reports submitted to regional authorities, Apple notified 614 employees across multiple offices on 28 March, with the layoffs becoming effective on 27 May.

The employees were drawn from eight offices in Santa Clara, but it remains unclear which departments or projects were impacted.

In February, Apple canceled its multibillion-dollar plans to develop an electric car, signaling a pivot towards artificial intelligence programmes.

Executives indicated the the layoffs could be expected for some staff due to this shift in focus.

Apple’s electric vehicle initiative, initially aimed at creating a fully self-driving car, struggled with shifting goals and failed to produce a viable product amidst staff turnover and missed deadlines.