I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs. No one will ever have Jobs' combination of taste and presence, but I think these numbers are showing that spending as much time managing the supply chain and making inroads into emerging markets is as important as playing with foam cutouts with Jony Ive.
You know how it typically takes one CEO to make a newly founded startup viable and successful, then a transition to another to keep it there? Think that's what we're seeing here.
It's a nearly impossible comparison to make. Under Steve Job as CEO (and with Tim Cook in key operational roles), Apple went from innovative, iconic, dying computer maker to one of the world's most successful companies, top pc maker, creator of shiny new products, upender of markets, stupidly profitable retailer, global brand name, etc, etc.
Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple's gone from that to a ludicrously more profitable, bigger version of that. He's clearly done very well but the starting point is different, the time period is shorter. Tim Cook helped Apple become an Imperial Star Destroyer and is apparently a pretty competent captain of one.
too early to tell. so far, we know he hasn't messed up the formula and financially he's off to a great start.
but jobs faced steeper hurdles right away bringing the company back from bankruptcy and reinvigorating morale within the company. jobs then successfully invented new product categories and much of the success apple is enjoying comes from an expanding smart phone market, which you rightly point out that cook is doing a fantastic job of addressing.
the apple watch will take a couple years to see if it's really a success. lots of fanfare so far, but it could fade in popularity like the iPad which, if you recall, was an incredibly fast growing category.
the iphone franchise, just like any other franchise, cannot last forever. and to find another product category with growth like that is going to be a very, very difficult thing to do.
i personally believe that SIRI will be the most important category at apple over the next 5-10 years. voice interfaces, without the use of a 5" screen will be the next most important UI/UX in computing. and i would not currently bet on apple to be the best at delivering that.
i'd say cook will have to be measured by his ability to dictate and keep up with technology trends, not just manage the supply chain. but you're right, he's done a great job of that for sure.
tim was the COO when steve was around, you have to also remember that the markets now are much larger than the one's before.. i do believe tim is an exceptional CEO but these numbers seem to reflect better and increased interest in apple products and bigger market size thanks to their bold expansion into asian countries
> I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs.
I don't know if this was ever in question. I never viewed Jobs as a particularly good CEO—charismatic and spiritual leader, yes. Good CEO? Probably not. He knew how to motivate people to get his version of the truth to consumers, and that version was incredibly successful.
Jobs was a marketer (and perhaps innately clairvoyant) at heart who was so successful at marketing that he could do a good job at CEO and create a multi-billion-dollar company.
Cook is a genius at the broad-stroke of business operations and most likely leaves the storytelling and imagination to others. It's little surprise the immediate results are a better bottom-line. Time will only tell if Apple truly has enough creativity and stories in the ranks to be long-term successful. (I think it does.)
Tim Cook is masterfully using all of Apple's inertia to keep breaking revenue records. He's refining and improving existing products, but he's not leading a foray into a completely new category like Steve Jobs did over and over again.
It will work as long as improvements in its core markets occur on a linear curve. It won't withstand an competitor making the product obsolete (for example, a possible transition from mobile to wearables - not that I'd put my money there, but still).
Also, the Watch seems like it could have benefited from some Steve Jobs type of editing and distilling. That's the kind of product focused authority that such a company really needs.
Much like the laptops and desktops tablets are suppose to replace, most people don't have a reason to upgrade every two years. For most customers upgrading your phone is very different from replacing your tablet.
I have an iPad 2 and it is still usable (with a noticeable slow down for web browsers after the iOS8 upgrade) after all these years. I suspect a lot of people just upgrade their tablets less often that their phones. I use it mainly as a glorified e-reader.
I think the larger iPad will help. My mom (iPad target demo?) is waiting for the larger iPad to upgrade to. If it's A4 / letter size then it will really take off for the publishing industry and academia (reading PDFs).
A big downside to the iPad is slow text input. Many people love their laptops because they can quickly communicate with people.
I suspect a lot of this is due to the rise of tablet-phones. The iPad is now like the iPod was earlier, essentially an iPhone 6 Plus without the phone functionality.
Competitors tablets are getting better and better, the market is pretty much saturated and the large phones that even Apple has started to produce make them less interesting.
Jobs admired Sony, which introduced and won several new product categories. But when the founders left, esp Morita, this stopped, though of course they remain successful to this day - they just aren't creating new product categories.
Cook, as an operations guy, will keep things running. But can Apple lead new product categories under him? The Apple Watch seems to be showing he can... If so, it's something even more impressive than biggest cap etc. Something Sony didn't manage.
The iPad is dying not because of longer upgrade cycles, but for the same reason desktops are: it's less convenient than a phone (or watch).
Sorry are you trying to say that sending an email from a watch or a phone is more convenient than an iPad?
I personally think its the novelty factor that wore off. I bought on of the first net books when they came out, but realized after a while, that a full sized keyboard outweighed the size benefit.
Some are arguing that the death of the iPad means that Apple is now basically a one-product company which could be an achilles heel no matter how many phones are sold.
Is it really dying? Just curious as I love mine and I am not familiar with the numbers. I remember speculation some time last year, but the article I had read didn't cite any hard data.
[+] [-] padobson|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] geoelectric|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pvg|11 years ago|reply
Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple's gone from that to a ludicrously more profitable, bigger version of that. He's clearly done very well but the starting point is different, the time period is shorter. Tim Cook helped Apple become an Imperial Star Destroyer and is apparently a pretty competent captain of one.
[+] [-] davmar|11 years ago|reply
but jobs faced steeper hurdles right away bringing the company back from bankruptcy and reinvigorating morale within the company. jobs then successfully invented new product categories and much of the success apple is enjoying comes from an expanding smart phone market, which you rightly point out that cook is doing a fantastic job of addressing.
the apple watch will take a couple years to see if it's really a success. lots of fanfare so far, but it could fade in popularity like the iPad which, if you recall, was an incredibly fast growing category.
the iphone franchise, just like any other franchise, cannot last forever. and to find another product category with growth like that is going to be a very, very difficult thing to do.
i personally believe that SIRI will be the most important category at apple over the next 5-10 years. voice interfaces, without the use of a 5" screen will be the next most important UI/UX in computing. and i would not currently bet on apple to be the best at delivering that.
i'd say cook will have to be measured by his ability to dictate and keep up with technology trends, not just manage the supply chain. but you're right, he's done a great job of that for sure.
[+] [-] snyp|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lukeqsee|11 years ago|reply
I don't know if this was ever in question. I never viewed Jobs as a particularly good CEO—charismatic and spiritual leader, yes. Good CEO? Probably not. He knew how to motivate people to get his version of the truth to consumers, and that version was incredibly successful.
Jobs was a marketer (and perhaps innately clairvoyant) at heart who was so successful at marketing that he could do a good job at CEO and create a multi-billion-dollar company.
Cook is a genius at the broad-stroke of business operations and most likely leaves the storytelling and imagination to others. It's little surprise the immediate results are a better bottom-line. Time will only tell if Apple truly has enough creativity and stories in the ranks to be long-term successful. (I think it does.)
[+] [-] flyinglizard|11 years ago|reply
It will work as long as improvements in its core markets occur on a linear curve. It won't withstand an competitor making the product obsolete (for example, a possible transition from mobile to wearables - not that I'd put my money there, but still).
Also, the Watch seems like it could have benefited from some Steve Jobs type of editing and distilling. That's the kind of product focused authority that such a company really needs.
[+] [-] adventured|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wnevets|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baddox|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AlexeyBrin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bluthru|11 years ago|reply
A big downside to the iPad is slow text input. Many people love their laptops because they can quickly communicate with people.
[+] [-] vannevar|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] on_and_off|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cft|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hyperpallium|11 years ago|reply
Cook, as an operations guy, will keep things running. But can Apple lead new product categories under him? The Apple Watch seems to be showing he can... If so, it's something even more impressive than biggest cap etc. Something Sony didn't manage.
The iPad is dying not because of longer upgrade cycles, but for the same reason desktops are: it's less convenient than a phone (or watch).
[+] [-] collyw|11 years ago|reply
I personally think its the novelty factor that wore off. I bought on of the first net books when they came out, but realized after a while, that a full sized keyboard outweighed the size benefit.
[+] [-] MaysonL|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] seminal|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gitah|11 years ago|reply
So much for the early hype of tablets killing the PC.
[+] [-] stevebot|11 years ago|reply