APPLE CLOUD CHIEF ABBOTT TO STEP DOWN IN APRIL – BLOOMBERG

Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) top executive Michael Abbott, who is in charge of cloud services, is leaving the company in April, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The iPhone maker did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Abbott, who joined Apple in 2018, heads the iCloud service and is in charge of the platform that powers features such as Emergency SOS and Find My on iPhones as well as new features including iCloud data encryption.

He previously held top roles at Twitter and Palm, and was a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.

Jeff Robbin, long-time Apple engineer, will take on Abbott’s responsibilities, Bloomberg News reported.

Earlier this year, Insider reported that vice president of services Peter Stern, who oversaw an expansion of Apple’s paid subscription businesses, particularly its television offering Apple TV+, would be leaving the company.

Shares in Apple were up about 3.4% in afternoon trading.