Is Tim Cooked?

[Apple Corps]

About a year and a half or so ago I predicted that Tim would not get the nod for CEO due to his background being so limited. That prediction was clearly wrong, but I am increasingly concerned that my assessment may have been correct.

So, this thread is for us to opine on how Tim is performing as the leader. How effective a leader of Apple is he? What has he done well and where is he missing the boat?

I am of the opinion that his performance is marginal:

The dividend payment was a no brainer given that $100 billion in cash becomes a liability on managing and protecting - not really an accomplishment. That cash reserve was generated from game changers that Tim did not envision / create / whatever.

Revenue & profits are a plus - BUT, how much is attributable to Tim?

Mac Pros

iMacs

Apple TV

Patent fights - an unresolved mixed bag at the moment I guess

Pandora replacement service

iOS 6 maps

Scuffgate - probably blown out of proportion, but there appears to almost always be some issue that mars the launch

So, chime in with your assessment.

 

[tigres]

I have a genuine concern that the results of his leadership will not show in #'s for a couple of years.

However, I have noticed that:
- the new ad's suck on every current product. (TV)
- he appears to be quick to apologize (and directs his team to as well)
- there are some severe (apparent) build issues with his new flagship device
- He completely lacks the charisma SJ did on Keynotes, so he should pass that torch to someone else in MGT.
- Stock has been declining this past 2 weeks, down from 720 high (shouldn't this be going up with the iP5 launch/sales?)

My guess is had better up it's game quickly because the sleeping giant (MS) is about to unleash a world of hurt over the next 12 months.

I know one thing to be sure, I am tired of iOS and it's icons. 2007 iOS release was over 5 years ago and the look of it remains the same. OSX current day still lags far behind 10.6.8 SL, and Siri remains in beta.

He may be good at supply side economics, logistics, etc- but his house is IMO a mess that appears to need some cleaning. SJ being a ball buster is what kept them ahead, I fear Mr. Cook's side of being kind to all is not going to steer the ship.

 

[philipma1957]

I feel a lot of down about apple and tim cook.

just wait later in 2013 for a mac pro.

and apple maps stink get google.


are not the best comments a ceo should make. yes my quotes are not exact but you all know what I mean.

 

[HurryKayne]

Yes.Cook is not the man Apple needs,he's the man Itoys fans need.
But the real Apple,the one who builds MAC its another story.
I hope its not an ended story because Cook's decisions are going in that direction.

 

[MacNut]

The problem with Apple is they have focused too heavily on the iPhone design that will be outdated a lot quicker than Android. What is the iPhone roadmap 5 years down the line. Unless they have a new killer product down the pipe Apple will get stagnent and have nowhere else to go but down. I don't know if this is Cook's fault or more Steves vision.

 

[Mr. McMac]

Thankfully I'm not a prisoner of Apple products. I'll go wherever the wind blows in technology.

 

[NewbieCanada]

Yes.Cook is not the man Apple needs,he's the man Itoys fans need.

Translation: Cook will only lead Apple to ever-increasing financial success, rather than the marginal computer company I'd rather it revert to being.

I own three Apple computers. I wouldn't own any if it wasn't for those iToys.

 

[MacNut]

Translation: Cook will only lead Apple to ever-increasing financial success, rather than the marginal computer company I'd rather it revert to being.

I own three Apple computers. I wouldn't own any if it wasn't for those iToys.

Apple could easily go back to marginal if people don't like the products they put out. We don't know what Apple has hidden behind the curtain but iOS is getting stale while Android is starting to speed ahead. The computer side of the business has fallen flat on it's face in terms of design. How much longer can Apple ride this high without people getting bored.

 

[MacN3wb]

It doesn't look good and now with this
"Apple’s market value drops $60 billion following iPhone 5 quality control issues"
http://www.extremetech.com/computin...llowing-iphone-5-scuff-quality-control-issues

 

[NewbieCanada]

Apple could easily go back to marginal if people don't like the products they put out. We don't know what Apple has hidden behind the curtain but iOS is getting stale while Android is starting to speed ahead. The computer side of the business has fallen flat on it's face in terms of design. How much longer can Apple ride this high without people getting bored.

The computer side of the business is doing just fine - except of course for the models that have no impact on the bottom line because people haven't bought them in years.

You could come up with the most awesome version of the Mac Pro and it still wouldn't sell a million units in a year. Most people don't want or need powerful towers costing thousands.

 

[robster2644]

To be honest, I know that he is the CEO, and the ball stops with him. But he does have a whole board of experts by his side. Maybe Apple is near the ends of it life.

I'm sure there are loads of new apple products in the pipe line like a Apple television and more house hold goods. It's wether his team can turn these ideas in to something special for us to gloat over.

Compared to Steve, Tim was always going to favour less, because its was Steve that brought the the iMac, iPhone, iPad, Mac books. Tim is just floating on what was already built.

For Tim to make his name a become what Steve was and still is, he needs to bring is something new from his own tool box of ideas.

Tim alright, lets wait and see.

 

[MacNut]

The computer side of the business is doing just fine - except of course for the models that have no impact on the bottom line because people haven't bought them in years.

You could come up with the most awesome version of the Mac Pro and it still wouldn't sell a million units in a year. Most people don't want or need powerful towers costing thousands.

You would be surprised how much of a need there is for the towers since they havent been updated in over 3 years.

 

[maflynn]

The one thing I'm noticing from apple is the lack of attention to details. Something that was a rarity when Steve was in charge. Sure stuff happened under Steve but he was quick to address it.

Maps
Scratches to the iPhone
Passbook not being able to connect to the app store (which has been resolved)
As mentioned the ads really are poor


Is this a trend? I certainly hope not, but these are unusual missteps on a company that prides itself to ensuring the smallest details are taken care of.

 

[Apple Corps]

I also wonder if Tim / Steve's wishes are allowing Sir Johnnie to run a bit wild with the "crystalline diamond" cnc router bit.... but using a less hard form of anodizing. 200 or whatever pictures to get alignment down to some very tight tolerance but not a very durable finish.

On balance, I am a big fan, but the head tilted, lilting, mesmerizing videos from Sir Johnnie are wearing a bit thin.

Perhaps Tim does not want to step into the design / material selection / manufacturing "fight".

 

[Apple Corps]

This past week the stock market has been really down / down / down on AAPL.

Some of this is a bit routine profit taking - those investors will buy back in shortly to catch the earnings (which should be positive). But still, almost a $100 drop recently

 

[Michael Goff]

I think he's doing great.

Profits are up, products have been good.

I don't know what I'd say he's doing "wrong".

 

[sviato]

Tim Cook is good for the CEO position, and the board definitely thinks so since they offered him so much stock to stay for the next 10 years. Steve Jobs himself said the board and investors wanted more money, and now that Steve paved the way for great product ideas, Tim is the right guy to focus on maintaining Apple's business success and keeping investors satisfied.

The stigma that he's not good enough is all in your head. You forge that Steve still had a lot of influence on the products released this year, so we haven't really seen what Tim is capable of. Yes he's taking a more conservative approach to the media, but that's just good business.

I think Cook is right for the job and will do great over the next decade.

 

[Rogifan]

So you think Steve made a mistake in making Cook his successor?

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It doesn't look good and now with this
"Apple’s market value drops $60 billion following iPhone 5 quality control issues"
http://www.extremetech.com/computin...llowing-iphone-5-scuff-quality-control-issues

Oh please what a stupid headline. They have NO WAY of proving that Apple's pullback is due to "quality control issues".

 

[Rogifan]

The one thing I'm noticing from apple is the lack of attention to details. Something that was a rarity when Steve was in charge. Sure stuff happened under Steve but he was quick to address it.

Yeah Steve did a bang up job with the iPhone 4 antenna issue. If that would have played out the exact same way but after Steve's death people would complain about how Apple handled it and how Steve would have handled it better/differently.

 

[Apple Corps]

So you think Steve made a mistake in making Cook his successor?

That is what I am leaning towards. We must remember that Steve selected John Sculley and we all know what a disaster that was for Apple and Steve.

In my mind the jury is still out but the trend is worrisome for me.

 

[HurryKayne]

Translation: Cook will only lead Apple to ever-increasing financial success, rather than the marginal computer company I'd rather it revert to being.

I own three Apple computers. I wouldn't own any if it wasn't for those iToys.

You own 3 macs because Imacs saved Apple's..pockets and you won't have anymore Macs if all verts on I-toys and when those will slow down ,what will be of Apple without even a real Mac..and having made a lot of Mac users going to the Windows Zone (which is opening on 26/10 without no Imac-Mini till here)
shattering its reliability with jokes like Final Cut X?
Seriously next week will tell us a lot of what Apple is going to be,its the last call for pro users..their loyalty is under an heavy moment.No desktops..well..

 

[KnightWRX]

I think he's doing great.

Profits are up, products have been good.

I don't know what I'd say he's doing "wrong".

Apple had its first earning's miss in years last quarter, they posted very very conservative estimates for this quarter's earnings too at their last conference call. Now we have the IDC predictions that shows YtoY decline in Mac Unit sales and the latest iPhone, their biggest money maker, didn't really show up in time to prop up the numbers for the quarter that just ended, which might lead to another low unit count for iPhone sales this quarter.

Now, all these can be traced back to realities of the markets (and to Apple phenomal unit sales in Q2 '12 which led to overstock of iPhones in the channels which led to the poor numbers which result in the earning's miss in Q3. Yes Apple too can stuff the channels! Who'd have figured uh ?), but it remains to be seen if this was a small faux pas, simply the market realities catching up, or if there's some trend starting here...

Personally, I don't think Apple will slide this quick. Steve wasn't a one man army and Apple still has pretty much all its talent intact. If Steve was truely the only reason Apple made it to where it is today, it'll still take a while before the downward slide starts, but I really doubt it was all on his shoulders. Steve couldn't have made Apple what it is now on his own and all the surviving people at Apple will make darn sure to continue making the best products they can like they always have. Transitions are never easy.

 

[maflynn]

Yeah Steve did a bang up job with the iPhone 4 antenna issue. If that would have played out the exact same way but after Steve's death people would complain about how Apple handled it and how Steve would have handled it better/differently.

I never said that Steve or apple was perfect but there was fewer bumps in the road with apple under his reign.

 

[Risco]

Personally, I don't think Apple will slide this quick. Steve wasn't a one man army and Apple still has pretty much all its talent intact. If Steve was truely the only reason Apple made it to where it is today, it'll still take a while before the downward slide starts, but I really doubt it was all on his shoulders. Steve couldn't have made Apple what it is now on his own and all the surviving people at Apple will make darn sure to continue making the best products they can like they always have. Transitions are never easy.

Steve Jobs was a visionary and a perfectionist., he had a tremendous influence on Apple. Do not be deceived, the loss of him will have an effect once the products he was involved in dry up. I also think the amount of leaks that Apple are getting now are starting to hurt, there is no secrecy anymore and that was one of the major reasons for Apples success over the years. Steve Job got iPod to the market in a year, there is no way Tim Cook could do the same.

 

[KnightWRX]

I never said that Steve or apple was perfect but there was fewer bumps in the road with apple under his reign.

Really, there wasn't. Steve had has much failures and bad PR moments than we've had in the last year. It's just people tend to eventually move on and forget them and only ever remember all the bad stuff of the last 6 months.

I don't think a single iPhone/iOS launch ever went by without a few issues being thrown around the forum for 2-3 months until the heat dies down. The 5 is no exception.

----------

Steve Jobs was a visionary and a perfectionist., he had a tremendous influence on Apple. Do not be deceived, the loss of him will have an effect once the products he was involved in dry up. I also think the amount of leaks that Apple are getting now are starting to hurt, there is no secrecy anymore and that was one of the major reasons for Apples success over the years. Steve Job got iPod to the market in a year, there is no way Tim Cook could do the same.

And the iPod was a dismall failure in those first few iterations. It took 2 elements the original iPod lacked to make it a success :

- USB. Firewire was nice, just not a very popular and widespread interconnect.
- Windows support. Really. 2% market share for Macs, a product that can only be used on Macs isn't always going to be niche.

The iPod didn't take off right then and there after the keynote like some people like to pretend. Steve also had to be convinced and coaxed into shipping some of Apple's successful products/services over the years. Heck, if not for the jailbreak community and their efforts, we might never have had an App Store or native apps on the iPhone, Steve insisting that Web Apps was the way.

I think people give Steve Jobs too much credit. He managed to take the company where it was because he hired the right talent to help him do it. On his own, Apple would still be stuck in a garage somewhere near Berkeley.