New Report Outlines Potential Successors to Apple's CEO Tim Cook and Other Senior Executives

[otternonsense]

Yeah, creating $1.5T in value was a loser’s strategy.

He didn't create that value for you and me, and barely any of it went to R&D for the products that you use. The loser in this case is the consumer while the Apple board got filthy rich as they learned they could get away with offering less and charging more.

 

[Anson_431]

Was it just me or anyone else thought of Craig when you see the article? 😂

I honestly think Craig’s personality and passion can drive Apple to new heights.

 

[MRrainer]

Truly The Kingdom of Apple now.

 

[jjudson]

Apple seems intent on becoming the next Dell...

There’s got to be some visionaries out there, but unfortunately, it’ll be Cook’s call, and shareholder value is king in the modern Apple.

 

[satchmo]

I wish we could see “fun” products again, like the iPod Nano or Shuffle, for example. Not everything has to be part of some grand ecosystem. If you gave me a Bluetooth iPod nano with wireless charging and 64gb of space or more, I’d buy one instantly.

Don’t forget the iPod socks to go along with it!

The Apple you seek is gone. No longer do they create insanely great products, but rather good safe iterations of existing products.

I harken back to G4 iMac days where they were fearless and seemingly insane with its design and approach.
They were rebels. Today they’re the world’s most valuable company. Everything is beholden to shareholders.

I’d love an Apple offshoot company tasked with developing really bold and innovative products without fear of failure. Yeah, I’m sure there’s a lab in Cupertino that does just that.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple doesn’t need another Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was the right man for his era, but Apple is long past that stage, and bringing in another firebrand leader now is simply going to cause more harm than good.

Instead, what Apple needs is someone who understands what makes Apple uniquely Apple. The answer to this is design. A thousand nos for every yes. That focus is important to making great products, and most importantly, that no one individual is essential or indispensable.

I firmly maintain that Tim Cook was the right person to lead Apple, and his decision to fire Scott Forstall early on confirms this decision. I feel that in the very least, any successor ideally also needs to have a background in supply chain management the same way Tim Cook does.

It’s going to be hard finding someone to fill Tim Cook’s shoes if and when that time does come, but I am sure Apple will survive.

 

[now i see it]

I wish TC all the best but man I'm looking forward to him leaving.
He has nothing to prove any more and certainly doesn't need the money. He should step down and let someone else take the reins.

 

[dwaltwhit]

A visionary, pedantic, product-minded leader who doesn't just coast by with "good enough for another annual iteration" would be ideal. We've all seen Apple could do better than that.

Why pedantic?

 

[testcard]

*we're gonna need bigger business cards*

 

[cesko]

Cue the #ABC (Anyone but Cue) movement.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I wish we could see “fun” products again, like the iPod Nano or Shuffle, for example. Not everything has to be part of some grand ecosystem. If you gave me a Bluetooth iPod nano with wireless charging and 64gb of space or more, I’d buy one instantly.

I sometimes wonder if Apple is limited by their success in that they have always made products for everyone who wanted/could afford them, but that number of people has grown so huge. So I would assume it's harder to be nimble and make out-of-the-box products. Their design planning necessarily involves how to mass produce products. Although, I guess there are products like the AirPods that were quite scarce for a while.

I agree though that it would be interesting to see something less general purpose oriented. They have this need to make everything the same across all their product lines.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Craig for president!

 

[gsurf123]

They need someone who is:

1. Hungry
2. Foolish
3. Willing to take risks and who has a forensic eye for detail

These type of people do not grow on trees and there probably are not more than a handful living at the same time. There are plenty of wannabes who wreck companies trying to be someone who they will never be.

I'll take a steady hand managing a pipeline of successful products.

 

[I7guy]

Do you think Apple will be considered "innovative" again and release new and different products more aggressively, rather than play it safe under Tim Cook right now?

Wonder if Apple will lose that innovative edge that they now have with this succession plan?

 

[I7guy]

A visionary, pedantic, product-minded leader who doesn't just coast by with "good enough for another annual iteration" would be ideal. We've all seen Apple could do better than that.

Apple would have tanked with such leadership...right?

 

[jlocker]

With the size of what Apple is now and its financial worth. It is hard for a company to fall in value too much damage is done. I am sure the board could find many capable IT CEO's that would be standing in line to take the CEO Apple position. I am sure they will never have a CEO like Michael Spindler again for his three year lead. Can we say not to license your OS so clones take all your business.

 

[ghanwani]

Not really interesting but rather standard practice for any company, especially one of their size. While perhaps interesting to the Apple faithful, the specific “who may do what” since we have seen some of their personalities, I otherwise find this non news.

This is not standard practice at all. For example, Intel had trouble deciding on a CEO when Krzanich unexpectedly stepped down.

 

[otternonsense]

Why pedantic?

Because extreme attention to detail was a core principle in Apple's design and engineering process. Now it's more wishful thinking than brand execution. What happened with that passion towards perfection when they now sell e.g. pre-bent iPad Pro units or LCD phone displays with lower PPI than 10 years ago, and justify it as normal? Tim happened.

 

[otternonsense]

Apple would have tanked with such leadership...right?

Like Steve's leadership? Yea, real tanking right there.

 

[matrix07]

So, just speculation.

Tim Cook will be impossible to replace. Best CEO in the world.

People said that about Steve Jobs.

 

[Morgenland]

I am sure that Apple board would like to have a successor to Tim if something should happen to him. Steve left us early, with covid virus you never know. And I am sure Tim is thinking about retirement and all the money he has in the bank

People like Tim, who is known to work unusually long, effective and hard every day, always think subordinately about retirement, unlike you and me. Therefore we are not CEO at . And that is good for .

 

[Cosmosent]

I do NOT believe AAPL's next CEO currently works for the company !

AAPL is & has been an Operations & Marketing success under Cook, no doubt.

However, they have NOT been a Technology Leader under Cook !

"Insight," which is an extremely rare talent / skill, has been the missing ingredient !

I strongly believe the AAPL Board will select someone else, from OUTSIDE the company, who has demonstrated "Insight" !

AAPL's last great Technology "surprise" was the register-rich A7 in the 5s.

That was Sept of 2013 !

Since High-Level R&D Schedules are set years in advance, Steve Jobs probably made that call.

 

[Websnapx2]

I wish we could see “fun” products again, like the iPod Nano or Shuffle, for example. Not everything has to be part of some grand ecosystem. If you gave me a Bluetooth iPod nano with wireless charging and 64gb of space or more, I’d buy one instantly.

I think that's called an Apple Watch, including Bluetooth and wireless charging. Just missing a larger hard drive, but really, that was only needed before you had small devices that were capable of cellular and streaming.

I appreciate you enjoyed those older products in the window they were released, but that doesn't mean they would still be relevant products that many people would enjoy now. At least not enough to create or market an entirely new product.

 

[I7guy]

Like Steve's leadership? Yea, real tanking right there.

Like creating additional shareholder value like Tim did? Innovative new products and new revenue streams. Yep, real tanking right there.

 

[Morgenland]

He didn't create that value for you, and barely any of it went to R&D for the products that you use. The loser in this case is the consumer while the Apple board got filthy rich as they learned they could get away with offering less and charging more.

If you are afraid to buy stocks, this is your individual sad problem. Of course, most people here have  shares.
Envy has never filled pockets.