Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

[yabeweb]

I agree.

I think that there is no way Steve Jobs could have made Apple and Apple shares as profitable as they are now.

Kinda disagree, Steve was the reason we had Apple success TWICE, when it started and when he came back saving it from bankrupcy.
Cook simply kept the boat where Steve steered it, the biggest innovation we had with cook were the watch (wich potentially was already in the vision years before) the Apple vision pro (which is still in early stages but promises are low so far) and the biggest success Wireless Airpods wither the only real success "new hardware".

I give Cook credit for the ARM transition, it might not have saved Apple (as it didn't need to be saved) but it definitely set the course for the next years.

Not a bad legacy at all but share price tells more than he actually did.

 

[digimc]

This deserves to be the top comment. He made Apple incredibly wealthy, but in doing so, he dismantled the innovative spirit that Apple was once revered for.

What innovative spirit? What are you talking about? Can you give me some examples of what is missing. Heck most people on this forum seem to react with disdain or indifference at anything new Apple does. Everything new that Apple has come out with since Jobs death that people like, is attributed to Jobs and the so called "road map" that he left for Cook to follow. Everything bad that Apple comes out with is seen as a failure on Cook's part. If there is this mythical "road map" Jobs left behind, how do we know that the Apple Car and Apple Vision, the two products that Cook seems to take the most heat for, weren't first the ideas of Jobs. Maybe Cook was just following through on those initial concepts originally thought of by Jobs.

Since Apple is so secretive and both Jobs and Cook are/were very private people who never speak/spoke much on these issues, it is really impossible to know.

I think people confuse innovation with invention, i.e. something entirely new coming forward. The truth is that Apple innovates every day. All successful companies do. Just because it isn't obvious doesn't mean that it isn't happening.

As far as I can tell the only drastic changes Cook has made from the so called "innovative concepts from Jobs catalog of ideas" would be the axing of the iPod, the discontinued status of the iPhone mini and pivoting away from Intel. Most everything else is pretty much the continuation of Jobs vision coming to fruition. Is it not? I mean what has Cook done that has so drastically torn down what Jobs built. No iPod Shuffle and the sky is falling? I mean what is so different from Jobs era to Cooks.

Then we have AI. The big failure. More than likely the reason Cook is stepping down, though I doubt we well ever know for sure. There is no doubt this will hover over Cook's legacy and to most on MR's it is probably going to be his swan song. But I would argue that Cook probably trusted the wrong people for too long, and it came back to bite him in the end. Still Apple and Cook's failure on AI, doesn't negate the continued innovation they have put forth in other areas.

The expansion of the Mac lineup, notably the Mac Studio. Primary innovations in the Mac mini and MacBook Air are notable. Expanding Apple TV and its core services over the last decade. The Apple Watch has become more popular than people first predicted it would be, though it's not perfect. Airpods has been an enormous success for Apple, and a key area of ongoing progress and innovation. The iPhone has continued to grow in its market share and continues to define the company and its innovation. Yes the curve in innovation has flattened a bit, as these products, including the iPhone, have become more mature and seasoned with each update, but that is how tech works. Drastic changes level off as the technology itself matures each year.

As I have said before to the people who always scream that Apple no longer has the so-called "innovative spirit", what do you want Apple to do? Other than fixing the obvious current fiasco of AI, what do you feel is missing. You have to at least have some ideas, of something so obvious that everyone is screaming "how on earth do they still not do or have this".

Apple releases AVP - MR's screams what a stupid idea, Cook is an idiot.
Apple releases iPhone Air - MR's screams what a stupid idea, Cook is an idiot.
Apple releases HomePod - MR's scream what a stupid idea, Cook is an idiot.

So it's not that Apple is standing completely still that bothers people. it's that they don't like Cook and believe Jobs would have never come up and released these silly and stupid products. Ok well fair enough I guess. But even if Jobs were still alive today, can you or anyone else honestly tell me that Apple would look drastically different, and if you answer yes, than describe in detail what you feel would be different. In other words how would Apple look today if Jobs were still alive.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Apple needs a Satya Nadella.

He would probably sell Macs as a subscription that you run from a browser.

 

[digimc]

Finally! I don't like his leading style. He turned Apple into an expensive luxury brand and priced out low income people. And he has done nothing to compete with Nvidia CUDA for AI.

Apple's products are more affordable today, even when we consider inflation, than they were when Jobs ran the company. Sheesh does anyone research anything before they post. Apple is way more affordable today than they were 20 years ago. Heck that's one of the many arrows slung at Cook. Is that he is making Apple "less premium" feeling under his direction.

 

[klrobinson999]

I say he's leaving to become the head of Disney.

 

[klrobinson999]

Apple's products are more affordable today, even when we consider inflation, than they were when Jobs ran the company. Sheesh does any research anything before they post. Apple is way more affordable today than they were 20 years ago. Heck that's one of the many arrows slung at Cook. Is that he is making Apple "less premium" feeling under his direction.

and we are about to get a $599 MacBook consumer product, which no one thought would ever happen...

 

[RootBeerMan]

About time! Please appoint someone who won't allow the company to stagnate even further. I miss the real Apple that produced things that led the industry.

 

[zoozx]

Hopefully apple gets taken in a better direction more like there original design.
Way past time.

 

[golfnut1982]

Thank you Tim and co! Buying Apple stock back then 2008 was a great decision, my next egg thanks you as well. No matter how many nay sayers out there, Apple financially performed. Everyone love and bought your products, including me and my family. I will continue to do as well. One of the best companies in the world making the best products and excellent customer service!

 

[litmag01]

I wonder, was a business plan that culminated in a unified OS his capstone project?

 

[seek3r]

IMO the single greatest thing Apple did during the Jobs-Cook era was switching to a Un*x-like (NeXT/BSD) operating system.

I’d argue that it was less that Apple switched and more that NeXT took over Apple. After Apple bought NeXT to get Jobs back most of the key NeXT folks took over their respective divisions at Apple, NeXTSTEP became the next MacOS, etc.

I’d argue they bought Apple for -429M

Apple today *is* NeXT

 

[seek3r]

Finally! I don't like his leading style. He turned Apple into an expensive luxury brand and priced out low income people. And he has done nothing to compete with Nvidia CUDA for AI.

Ah yes, because the SE/30 that lives on my desk today that retailed starting at $6,500, base, when new (that would be a whopping $17,400 today) was *totally* aimed at low income folks, and today’s $500 Mac Mini totally is totally unaffordable

As for CUDA…

First of all the fact that you conflate CUDA with AI tells me you dont know much about CUDA. Second of all Apple did, along with AMD et al, try to compete with CUDA with OpenCL. It… didnt work. And that was under Jobs

 

[seek3r]

True. Different types of leadership styles.

The next CEO could do an overhaul and invest the savings elsewhere. Examples:

1) Cut retail stores by 90% since most are a waste of money. People buy online, and stores like Best Buy, Walmart, and cell phone carrier stores can display demo models of what people typically purchase. A significant savings on payroll, operations, and "renovation" costs. Warranty replacements can be mailed in or picked up with a deal through Best Buy.

I believe Apple stores generate the most profit/sq foot of any major retailer, so reality is a bit counter to your conception of them

2) Increase the cost of the phones to $1,199 for the base phone, increasing each model by $100 increments over that. People will continue to buy iPhones regardless of the price increase -- especially with carrier subsidies.

“Please make things more expensive”? Wut?

3) Remove the iPad mini from the lineup entirely.

Why?

4) Remove Apple TV from the lineup entirely.

Why?

5) Slice the dividend even further.

The company is already sitting on 100s of billions in capital funds, what possible reason would there be to slash the dividend?

And then reinvest savings into people to retain talent, so that the software can be improved.

They definitely dont need to slash the dividend to retain talent. Apple’s already pretty good at retaining talent, the bigger problem with the software is Apple has a deeply complex ecosystem and QA cant catch everything until release (nor is that a new problem, people forget for ex how much of a mess 10.4 was at release, or how much snow leopard was desperately needed to fix leopard)

 

[mrj101]

Great news.

 

[ThailandToo]

I mean, Apple does have an obligation to share holders. Personally I’d prefer a world where these big corporations can be privately owned and focus on design over profit but that will require stock buybacks.

The problem is AAPL is designed now to be run like a financial institution that solely operates for profits and does not operate with all stakeholders interest involved. From customers to employees to developers to local areas, everyone has gotten the shaft to make the wealthy wealthier. It’s all done because Crook’s interest is solely to make himself wealthy by making shareholders wealthy which makes the board give him more and more money.

Crook has done a great job at the present but he has destroyed the future with lack of innovation, anti-competitive practices, and complete disregard for anything that doesn’t make the wealthy wealthier. Someone like Steve would have kept customers better situated, potentially cared more for employees not firing experts like Forstall, and definitely being a steward of the position at the helm.

 

[ThailandToo]

So "most" aren't using the ports on their MBPs? This seems like a wildly inaccurate statement. Please tell us where you heard this.

I am saying that Thunderbolt is far superior to the other ports. SD card slot is a joke as modern professional cameras use primarily more advanced cards like CF Express. HDMI could be useful to some, but I would surmise that the majority of the time a monitor is connected it’s with a Thunderbolt port to provide more than just display capabilities but also data transmission. So, in my experience and that which I see others using MBPs, yes I stand by my position and believe a through investigation would realize less than 5% have ever used an SD card slot on an MBP. Maybe 10% occasionally use an HDMI port. For me, even with HDMI, when at client offices there’s always a USBC/TB and HDMI port to connect to in conference rooms and etc.

 

[ThailandToo]

So Ternus will be in the driver’s seat when the folding iPhone drops.

No way Tim would allow that. Tim wants more than just all the money, he wants the glory. He is selfish and self centered for certain.

 

[ThailandToo]

Eddy Cue is immortal.

Let’s come back to this post the day he passed. No human is immortal.

 

[ThailandToo]

Yeah, the iPod Touch should never of had "iPod" in the name IMO.

Everyone called it iTouch. I thought iPad Touch was more accurate than stupid idea iTouch.

 

[OverTheHill]

Finally! I don't like his leading style. He turned Apple into an expensive luxury brand and priced out low income people. And he has done nothing to compete with Nvidia CUDA for AI.

Apple has always carried a premium.

 

[seek3r]

HDMI could be useful to some, but I would surmise that the majority of the time a monitor is connected it’s with a Thunderbolt port to provide more than just display capabilities but also data transmission.

It’s a professional laptop. Any other considerations aside professional laptops are used often in conferences and conference rooms, I’ve used the HDMI port on my laptop a lot in those contexts, and before Apple added HDMI back I saw a lot of minor chaos in both those contexts with people figuring out how to plug their laptops in

Also a lot of people like the ability to plug their laptop into a TV easily without an adapter

 

[ThailandToo]

Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple has delivered several successful products, such as the Apple Watch, AirPods, the M-series MacBooks, and the Apple Pencil.

However, there have also been notable shortcomings, including the cancellation of the Apple Car project, the slow progress of Apple Vision, and challenges on the AI-driven software side.

You think any of those were Tim’s ideas? The iPod Nano was being worn as an Apple Watch so Apple killed it so they could create their own watch. AirPods were always the vision. The M-series SoC is about running a monopolistic style company that owns the entire supply chain and prevents innovation of non-proprietary adaptations into Apple’s ecosystem.

 

[surferfb]

They definitely dont need to slash the dividend to retain talent. Apple’s already pretty good at retaining talent, the bigger problem with the software is Apple has a deeply complex ecosystem and QA cant catch everything until release (nor is that a new problem, people forget for ex how much of a mess 10.4 was at release, or how much snow leopard was desperately needed to fix leopard)

Not to mention that stock makes up a large part of compensation in Silicon Valley. Higher (and growing) stock price helps a ton with retention.

 

[I7guy]

[...]

Apple releases AVP - MR's screams what a stupid idea, Cook is an idiot.
Apple releases iPhone Air - MR's screams what a stupid idea, Cook is an idiot.
Apple releases HomePod - MR's scream what a stupid idea, Cook is an idiot.

[...]

Jobs had a share of failures and apple pay wasn't exactly a juggernaut when it was released.

Apple appoints Cook CEO - MR Screams apple is doomed
Apple releases airpods - MR screams who would want to wear that thing
..etc

 

[I7guy]

The problem is AAPL is designed now to be run like a financial institution that solely operates for profits and does not operate with all stakeholders interest involved. From customers to employees to developers to local areas, everyone has gotten the shaft to make the wealthy wealthier. It’s all done because Crook’s interest is solely to make himself wealthy by making shareholders wealthy which makes the board give him more and more money.

Crook has done a great job at the present but he has destroyed the future with lack of innovation, anti-competitive practices, and complete disregard for anything that doesn’t make the wealthy wealthier. Someone like Steve would have kept customers better situated, potentially cared more for employees not firing experts like Forstall, and definitely being a steward of the position at the helm.

Book marked this post for posterity and will revisit this in 5 years if we're all around.