Apple layoffs have arrived under new chief executive John Ternus, marking the first such round since he assumed leadership of the company. The cuts affect employees working on Apple Fitness+, the subscription-based workout service.
Apple does not conduct mass redundancies as frequently as many of its peers in the technology sector. This latest development, however, does not necessarily signal that the company is about to follow the wider industry trend of large-scale workforce reductions.
The Apple Fitness+ challenge
The reason behind the cuts lies in the performance of Apple Fitness+. The service has struggled to generate significant revenue and has failed to grow at the same pace as Apple’s other digital and physical products over the years.
Reports last year indicated that the company was seeking to tighten how Apple Fitness+ was managed. Alongside improvements to the service and new features such as AI-generated dubbing for workout videos, staffing reductions were widely anticipated.
An outright cancellation of the service is considered unlikely, as the resulting backlash would probably outweigh any cost savings. Nonetheless, further cost-cutting measures are expected in the near future.
Continuity under John Ternus
Although this represents the first round of layoffs since John Ternus became chief executive, it does not appear to signal a fundamental shift in strategy. Comparable cuts affecting less profitable ventures, including the Apple Vision Pro, were already taking place in the days before Ternus succeeded Tim Cook. The Apple Fitness+ reductions are viewed as a continuation of measures the company had already begun.
Tim Cook, the former chief executive, now holds the role of Executive Chairman at Apple. His compensation is reported to be nearly double that of others in comparable positions across the industry.
Some observers anticipate that further reshuffling may follow within the company as it continues to review the performance of individual services and ventures.
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