Apple has promoted Sir Jonathan Ive to a new role as chief design officer, in a move that will consolidate the British designer’s hold on the direction of new products at the world’s most valuable company.
苹果(Apple)已擢升乔纳森•艾夫爵士(Sir Jonathan Ive)为首席设计官。此举将巩固这位英国设计师对全球市值最高公司的新产品方向的掌控力。Sir Jonathan was given combined duties for both hardware and software design in an executive reshuffle in 2012, but will relinquish day-to-day managerial responsibility for those two teams to Richard Howarth, vice-president of industrial design, and Alan Dye, vice-president of user interface design, respectively.
在苹果公司2012年的高层调整中，乔纳森爵士同时被委任以硬件和软件的设计职责。但未来他将把这两个团队的日常管理分别交给工业设计副总裁理查德•豪沃思(Richard Howarth)和用户界面设计副总裁阿兰•戴伊(Alan Dye)。
“In this new role, he will focus entirely on current design projects, new ideas and future initiatives,” Apple said. The new position acknowledges an ongoing expansion of his role beyond its devices and into designing Apple’s retail stores and new Cupertino campus, right down to its office furniture.
苹果表示：“在新职位上，他将把精力完全投入到现有设计工程、新创想和未来项目中。”新岗位的职责将不再局限在设备设计，还将扩展至苹果零售商店和新库珀提诺(Cupertino)园区以及苹果的办公家具。
“Jony is one of the most talented and accomplished designers of his generation, with an astonishing 5,000 design and utility patents to his name,” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a memo to employees obtained by tech blog 9to5Mac. “His new role is a reflection of the scope of work he has been doing at Apple for some time.”
“乔纳森是他的同代人中最有才华、成就最大的设计师之一，他名下的设计和效用专利高达5000件，”苹果首席执行官蒂姆•库克(Tim Cook)在给员工的一份备忘录中说。“他的新角色反映了一段时间以来他在苹果所从事工作的范围。”Sir Jonathan now rivals the iPhone maker’s chief executive Tim Cook for power and influence within Apple, especially in the area of product direction that was previously led by its late co-founder Steve Jobs.
乔纳森爵士目前在苹果内部的权力和影响力已可与蒂姆•库克相媲美，尤其是在新产品方向上，这一领域曾由已故联合创始人史蒂夫•乔布斯(Steve Jobs)领导。Yet some outside observers have seen the transition as a possible signal that Sir Jonathan is preparing for an eventual exit from the company.
不过，一些外部观察人士认为，这次职位变化可能意味着，乔纳森爵士正在为最终离开苹果而做准备。