“I’m sure Tim Cook is hugely competent, a wonderful operating executive, and a real nice guy,” Fraser P. Seitel writes for Fortune. “But as CEO of the world’s most respected high-tech franchise, he has been an unmitigated disaster.”
“In the two years since Cook assumed the reins of Apple from iconic Steve Jobs, the new CEO has presided, shockingly, over the dismantling of Apple’s pristine reputation for innovation and the crumbling of Apple’s high-flying stock,” Seitel writes. “Cook’s latest catastrophe came Tuesday, when, with typically-unbridled Apple anticipation before a packed media house in Cupertino, he personally announced what was billed as ‘Apple’s next big thing.’ Only it wasn’t.”
Seitel writes, “what has caused Apple’s fortunes to tumble? Two words: Public relations.”
“Not only has Apple’s public relations gotten worse under Mr. Cook, it’s also starting to lose its marketing touch; so much so that with Apple’s stock back down 33% from its peak, investors are once again calling for the CEO’s scalp,” Seitel writes. “What can the confused Cook do to prevent the ignominy of getting canned and having to slink away with nothing but his $378 million compensation package as comfort?”
How ’bout these for starters:
• Take your “image” seriously.
• Meet the media.
• Buy a blazer.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again: Just because you don’t know what you’re looking at, doesn’t mean you haven’t just seen amazing products. Besides the world’s best mobile OS, a product that will bury Pandora, the birth of mainstream biometrics, a new higher margin iPhone 5c, etcetera, you just saw the world’s first 64-bit smartphone, for Jobs’ sake!
Once the words “Stocks – Down – Shareholder” comes out, these so called experts can shove it up the…..
I want to finish your statement … ASS!
They are only “experts” in their own minds.
Uh ok. Because apparently Mr. Seitel of Forbes has all the answers. This is the problem with the American media. Journalists are trying to stay relevant so they make outlandish remarks even if they don’t make sense.
Tim Cook has made all the right moves. Not sure what the gripe is all about. Just take a look at Google’s crappy DOA products. Does Forbes bother to call those out? No.
You nailed it. Reminds me of that guy at the party who can only garner attention by making controversial, even rude comments.
As his profession withers away.
Great analogy!
A blazer? WHy would anyone want to wear some remnant of British Empire cricket-playing?
Tim is fine – some people just dont understand Apple.
Agreed. This advice of this writer seems to be that Apple can only “save itself” (from what, I do not know) by acting like everyone else. Terrible advice.
Well said.
Yeh — just like they got where they are now by acting like everyone else.
Two things. Apple is the most respected high tech business in the world lead by Tim Cook for the past few years. What makes this writer think he can give advice to the CEO of this business?
He’s a PR guy. Case closed.
Haha.
Yeah, he lost me when he said buy a blazer.
I’ve read a lot of BS, this guy does not have a clue about what he thinks is important…. Apple will do fine going forward that I am confident in…. he should be writing about Microsoft, then it would all make sense….
Seitel has a point. Compared to the luminaries of the tech industry, what has Cook done as CEO? You only have to look at Microsoft, RIM, Google, Shameless Copier Samdung and others. Great companies. Great CEOs.
Does he not see Cook when he testified to Congress? He was dressed appropriately. I don’t hear this bozo telling Zuckerberg to buy something other than a hoodie.
Which, by the way, Ballmer wore lots of blazers. Lot of good it did him.
Yeah, but Zuckerberg is rather feckless and Tim is not. Zuckerberg is a guy that slapped together a website and used up all our good luck for the next 20 years. Just another industrial accident like Bill Gates and Microsoft.
Tim though, we tend to have higher expectations of.
I’ve always said I believe Tim Cook is the wrong face for Apple. As the article above says, he may be brilliant, but quite frankly he’s a downer. When you see him on stage he has all the excitement and mystery of an old woman’s kitchen pantry.
Apple needs a new face, or no face.
I’m sorry, but we live in a hugely age conscious world. There is a perception in the world that you don’t know anything about technology if you’re over 30.
Screw public relations, I’d like to see him become even more mysterious. I’d also like to see him dress like an adult, the “I’m not quite Steve Jobs” look just doesn’t work. Put on a freaking suit.
Tim’s pretty open. He should stop being so open. Let the news reports be “Rumors are Tim Cook, the elusive CEO of Apple, Inc. was spotted in the offices of SkyLink, the Russian mobile carrier.”
Get a white cat and pet it in the back of the chauffeur driven German sedan also. Look powerful and decisive.
Get rid of these stupid, way beyond their time, product announcement shindigs. Create really good web introductions for products.
Let the people who imitate Apple with the product announcement shows look like idiots instead.
Steve is gone. The product announcement show was his and no one else has ever been able to pull it off.
If you want to generate excitement, all you have to do is send out a bunch of emails directing people to check the website tomorrow at 10:00, or something.
I don’t think anything is wrong with the products. (I hate those covers with holes but that’s just taste). Apple’s upfront presentation could use an upgrade though.
I don’t agree with most of what you wrote here, Thelonious, but the white cat line had me ROFL.
So you still think they should do the shows. Call all those silly reporters from all over the country to sit in an auditorium for an hour?
Tim standing around in that business shirt, jeans, and sneakers? He just looks uncomfortable.
Break out of the Steve Jobs mold and grow. Change is good.
Steve Jobs had more then a great vision and awareness of the consumer, he was also a great showman. Some people have it, some people don’t. Steve had it. Tim does not. That’s no reflection on either as a competent or excellent CEO of a company. Tim Cook must have had something if Jobs put him in charge. Maybe Steve made a bad decision/selection there? Dunno? But he must at least be a great supply-chain guru. However that does not translate into someone who can create enthusiasm when presenting new products for a company. And for a company like Apple, which rolls out new consumer hardware ever so often, that is very important. So I disagree with your thought that presentations should cease. Quite the contrary, I believe that they simply need to be improved. I believe that they’re vitally important to a consumer product/software company like Apple. As I have said before, it would be nice to have someone with a little more stage presence and pizzazz to run these presentations. Or at least several people who have these traits. Tim can still run the show but let someone or others introduce products. I believe it really matters. So I guess I do agree that Apple needs a “new face”. Good products or average products can always be made to look better by presentation. That’s just a fact. That works every time you go into a store to buy something. Your eye is always drawn to a product that is packaged and displayed well. It’s called marketing. Nothing sells itself. Not even Apple products. Apple does seem to be ramping up their advertising. Finally. But I believe their product rollout presentations are dismal. We don’t need a Steve jobs clone, we just need more sincere enthusiasm. I can’t do it. And neither can Tim Cook. But I believe that it is imperative that they improve these presentations. There are people, probably within Apple, that excel at this. The public does pay attention. This is the face of your company, especially when you make a big deal out of said presentations. This is important. And it’s so easy for everyone outside of Apple to see. Probably inside Apple also!
Would Tim Cook try to treat cancer with herbs, crystals and yoga?
Nailed it…
Reluctantly, this time, I find myself in agreement (as I do about 98% of the time anyway, Thelonius) with your sage commentary. Nice job nailing it while keeping it fun.
Gotta say that was a great rant Thelonious. Agreed on pretty much everything. The “I’m not quite Steve Jobs” look is tack on. However, I think he should put on a tracksuit. Baby blue.
But yeah, maybe it is time for Apple to retire the dog and pony show. And not send out any emails. Instead just silently update the Apple.com front page and let the shock waves flow out from there.
The Steve Jobs keynotes, in part, worked so well because Mr. Jobs himself always believed so strongly that what he was showing to the world was, in fact, world-changing. And he was right. The products that he unveiled did change the world. You could tell he knew that and was super excited about sharing it.
Unveiling plastic iPhones does not change anything, for anybody. Some spoiled kids might get them for Christmas, but who cares. What Tim Cook unveiled was merely a iterative update to Apple’s iPhone. A solidifying of their profitable position. We don’t feed a fake Steve-note for that.
Totally agree. The presentations have lost their luster.
Not sure if I’ll ever sit through another blog, anxiously reading line after line. Oh, who am i kidding, I know damn well I will.
I agree you nailed it, Steve Jobs was the face & image of Apple and the had the energy & charisma to get people to be excited about all things Apple. I don’t see that in Tim Cook, while I’m sure he’s great at what he does and has done, I think it’s time for a new direction in how Apple’s image is presented to the world. I believe Apple still makes the best products out there and will continue to do so, but the constant negative press, negative analists and some stock manipulation all of which isn’t helping people stay excited with what their offering.
Let Craig F. become the new face of Apple. There’s no reason the CEO needs to play emcee at a product announcement.
There, problem solved.
Agreed. Craig F is the only person at Apple I can think of who should be permitted on the stage at Apple Keynote presentations.
Timmy has fallen into the well. (again.)
“what has caused Apple’s fortunes to tumble? Two words: Public relations.“
The real two words
“Stock manipulation”
Apple stock started to climb going into the announcement causing people to buy, scoring commissions for brokers. Now after the announcement they have to knock it down to cause people to sell again scoring commissions for brokers. They get you coming and going. It would be interesting to see what would happen if brokers only made commission if you made money.
“the new CEO has presided, shockingly, over … the crumbling of Apple’s high-flying stock”
Actually even at today’s depressed share price, AAPL is still trading ABOVE the highest price it ever hit under Jobs.
Oh – my – gawd! What are you trying to do? Confuse people with FACTS!?
“How Tim Cook can save himself (and Apple)”
You forgot “…or something.”
Fortune really has it out for Apple, doesn’t it? And they’re certainly consistent about it.
When these clowns get a single fact right, I’ll be amazed.
Buy a blazer? Seriously, all credibility evaporated at this demand.
Meet the media? The media is quite familiar with CEO Cook. Who they need to meet is Tim.
Yup. A blazer. Obviously an East Coast guy who doesn’t get Silicon Valley in the slightest.
These new Apple products are going to sell not just well but once again beyond anyone’s imagination. Once that happens no one will question Tim Cook again, until the next product announcement.
In addition, when iOS 7 comes out and starts blowing people away, new iPads, new OS X, new Mac Pro, anyone who asks Apple, “What have you done for me lately” will look foolish.
Still I’d like to see Tim become a bit more imposing.
I wonder if Mr. Seitel would have suggested his three bullet points to Steve Jobs—
Take your image seriously…really?
Wear a blazer? Anyone can buy one.
Schmooz “the media”…really? Seriously?
Jobs would have fallen down laughing hysterically or offered a few choice words.
I don’t think there’s much choice for the two words he would have used. One’s “off”, after all.
Truth doesn’t mean anything to these analysts. They are only trying to manipulate stock or sell magazines. There should be a major effort to inform the public of these corrupt practices. These analysts are not driven by truth but by profit.
This article is retarded.
As in, like, an engine retarder
It’s a shane that those who claim to go to college studying Finance to become “so-called analysts” are truly only a paid extension of the “yesterday” brands which they so dearly cling onto. Maybe a small dose of Apple reality” might help them realize that clinging onto the past only makes them look irrelevant in today’s world and technology.
The MDN take is totally off mark. Nobody is criticizing the iPhone 5S. What they are criticizing is Tim Cook — and some of the points Seitel makes are on the mark. Cook HAS underwhelmed the Apple community in his poor public relations and marketing ability, not to mention his folding over to the NSA, wasting billions of dollars of potential R&D funds on stupid stock price manipulation and Aerobie offices.
Only time will tell if Apple’s engineers and developers can overcome Tim’s tepid leadership. If the Mac community isn’t wowed this autumn as promised, then don’t be surprised to see even more die-hard Apple fans bemoaning how much Tim has slowed down and/or dumbed-down Apple.
Case in point: how many people were raving about Apple’s awesome back-to school promotion this year? Zero. Is there any excuse for that, Cook apologists?
What is really hurting Apple is that with Steve Jobs being gone every 2 bit analyst thinks they can tell Apple how to run their company. Some analyst decides Apple will announce a deal with China Mobile and suddenly the stock is in in trouble if they don’t. Did Apple ever say the 5c was going to be cheap? No they didn’t. But Tim is dull. Not the kind of personality you want to be the face of the greatest technology company in the world.
Part of the problem is few people seem to understand what Steve hired Tim to do. The reason he is still there is he is doing it VERY well. The latest iPhones are no exception. They were CLEARLY designed for specific markets. The 5s advance into true 64bit will leave the competition gasping for breath. Surely all the iPads this fall will be 64 as well. That will be HUGE. Some of these pundits can’t recognize new innovation if their lives depended on it.
Remember the days when you would read financial articles in real magazines (made of paper) instead of internet articles. Back then only the best articles were selected by the editor due to the printing and distribution costs. I used to read them cover to cover. Only the top financial writers, doing actual research and supporting their opinion up got any column space.
Today with the internet, those both printing and distribution costs are gone. So what were are left with is a plethora of idiots on keyboards using the “rectal extraction” method of supporting their hit generating articles.
They all have the opinion that they can run a Fortune 500 company, better than anyone else. So why don’t they do it? If it is so easy…just do it! Don’t forget to wear your blazer!
This guy is saying exactly what I have been writing in the British press.
Cook needs to start managing the expectations of these cretinous morons called the press.
They have ridiculous expectations for every successive iPhone but Cook needs to manage these expectations far better than he is currently doing so.
It is no good getting annoyed about the Press and their stupidity – he needs to manage them, play them like a violin and negate these crazy expectations.
Usain Bolt ran 9.58 seconds to break the world 100m record. If he was Apple, they would be expecting him to run 8.5 seconds next time. Impossible.
MANAGE them Mr Cook and you will position Apple in a far stronger place than you find yourself (and us shareholders) at the moment.
Cook lost me when he lobbied the Supreme Court to push the homosexual agenda down our throats! His operation of Apple has been anemic and dismal! Apple absolutely has lost it’s innovative spirit and vision. The great visionary, Jobs, is gone as is the magic! Seriously, do u get excited when Cook is doing a keynote? I sure as hell don’t! Apple’s stumblings can no longer be sustained w/o Jobs! It can’t!
Go back to Korea and STFU. We have freedom of speech in this country. Get over it.
How do you lobby the fossils on the Supreme Court? More homophobic pap from iMaki , the king of enlightenment.