Apple's new leadership wants more money from the App Store — and Schiller quit over it
Apple is planning changes to the App Store designed to raise margins and grow recurring revenue, and the internal disagreement over those plans has already cost the company one of its longest-serving executives. Bloomberg Power On (Gurman) broke the story this week, reporting that new CEO John Ternus and services SVP Eddy Cue are driving the push. The specifics of what they're planning haven't been detailed — but the fallout is already visible.
Schiller out, Cue back in
Phil Schiller, who has been at Apple for 39 years, stepped down from overseeing the App Store rather than be associated with the direction Ternus and Cue are taking it. Schiller has held Apple Fellow status since stepping back from his marketing VP role in 2020, and in that capacity he ran the App Store. He remains at the company for now, but 9to5Mac reports his departure from App Store oversight reflects a deliberate decision: he believes the planned changes will anger both developers and regulators, and he doesn't want his name on them.
Eddy Cue takes back control of the App Store — a role he last held in 2015, more than a decade ago. Day-to-day operations fall to Carson Oliver, who reports to Cue. The Next Web notes this makes Cue the most powerful executive at Apple outside Ternus himself, consolidating the company's entire services empire under one roof.
Developer backlash and regulatory heat
Gurman didn't spell out what the revenue changes actually look like — higher commissions, new subscription tiers, ads in App Store search, or some combination. That uncertainty is itself a problem: US developers are already worn down by years of Epic Games litigation and FTC scrutiny, and any move that looks like a commission hike or a new monetization layer will invite fresh legal and regulatory attention.
The timing is awkward. EU rules on alternative payments and third-party distribution take effect October 1, 2026, per the Apple Developer Program agreement update. Japan and China have already seen region-specific App Store adjustments. Trying to push revenue up globally while simultaneously complying with fragmented regional rules is a difficult balancing act — and Schiller's exit suggests Apple's own leadership isn't fully aligned on whether it's worth the risk.
