Apple cuts jobs in digital services groups as priorities shift

APPLE took the rare step of cutting about 100 jobs in its services group, part of a shift in priorities for the critical division, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

The company informed the affected employees, who worked across several different teams in senior vice president Eddy Cue’s services group, on Tuesday (Aug 27), said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the move is not public.

The layoffs included some engineering roles, and the biggest cuts were made to the team responsible for the Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore. There were also layoffs in other services teams, including the one that runs Apple News.

Apple Books has become less of a priority for the company, which does not see it as a major part of its services lineup. The Books app is still expected to get new features over time, according to the sources. As for Apple News, the layoffs are not a sign that it’s becoming less of a focus, they said.

Layoffs are unusual at Apple, though the company has made other recent cuts. Earlier this year, it laid off hundreds of workers when it shuttered its self-driving car project as well as an effort to make microLED displays.

A representative for the Cupertino, California-based company declined to comment on the cutbacks. Some of the employees worked across multiple teams within services, so other teams were tangentially affected as well. BLOOMBERG