By Mark Gurman

Apple Inc.’s marketing executive in charge of the Apple Watch, AirPods, health and smart home initiatives said he’s retiring, marking a changing of the guard for a series of key product lines.

Stan Ng, who has worked at Apple for 31 years, said Thursday that he is leaving the company. In his role, he helped devise the original Apple Watch and has overseen the development of subsequent versions of the device along with other notable accessories.

His claim to fame at the company was helping launch the original iPod and serving as a key marketing executive for that product line. He also participated in product launch videos for major releases, including the iPod touch in 2007. 

“After 31 years at Apple, today was my last day,” Ng wrote on LinkedIn. “It was a joy to work at Apple and I truly loved what I did.” Ng started at Apple as a system engineer in 1995, predating the return of Steve Jobs. 

Apple’s latest stock unit vesting date was Wednesday, and many employees who retire or leave choose to do so around this time. John Giannandrea, Apple’s longtime artificial intelligence chief, is also leaving, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. 

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Ng’s exit.

Ng’s departure adds to a list of major figures stepping away, spanning both the Jobs era and current Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook’s tenure. Last year, operations chief Jeff Williams retired, while former hardware engineering leader Dan Riccio exited the year prior.

Apple’s head of environment and government affairs, Lisa Jackson, retired earlier this year, while its longtime general counsel — and now Jackson’s replacement as head of government affairs — is set to leave later in 2026. Its head of user interface design, Alan Dye, left for Meta Platforms Inc. at the end of 2025.

Ng is the third major executive tied to the company’s smartwatch, health and fitness efforts to leave recently. Williams ran those groups until his retirement, while Jay Blahnik, the company’s head of Fitness+, is leaving after an investigation and lawsuit related to allegations about his behavior. 

Ng’s exit is also significant for Apple’s marketing organization, which is run by senior vice president Greg Joswiak. Ng reported to Bob Borchers, who oversees product marketing under Joswiak. Marketing leaders at Apple go beyond advertising and help lead product development. 

The company maintains separate marketing leads for the iPhone, software, enterprise initiatives, the iPad and Mac, and Vision Pro — all reporting to Borchers — while its head of developer marketing reports directly to Joswiak. Apple recently appointed its first head of marketing for AI, also under Joswiak.

Part of Ng’s role has been assumed by Erik Treski, who was referenced in last month’s AirPods Max update announcement. He oversees marketing for audio and home products.