In wide-ranging interview, Apple’s Tim Cook discusses emerging markets and plans for cash

The Wall Street Journal has posted an extended interview with Tim Cook:

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company’s best days are still ahead.

It’s not a particularly unusual message coming from a CEO. But Apple is facing pointed questions that the iPhone’s growth will slow and that the company’s innovative run is coming to an end.

Cook sat down Thursday for a wide-ranging interview with the Journal’s Daisuke Wakabayashi.

A snippet:

WSJ: There is a perception that Apple’s no longer a growth company. How do you respond to that?

Cook: Last year, we grew (revenue) by $14 billion to $15 billion. Yes, those percentages are smaller compared to a year earlier and two years earlier and so forth. But that doesn’t mean that you’re not a growth company. We were in hyper-growth, or whatever is above growth. We went from $65 billion to over $100 billion to $150 billion to $170 billion. These are historic, unprecedented numbers. I don’t know any companies adding growth at that level. So when you say $14 billion to $15 billion compared to those numbers, it’s clearly smaller and a smaller percentage, but, to put it in some context, that’s like adding three Fortune 500 companies in a year. I think that’s hard to say that’s not a growth company.

Much more – recommended – here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]

38 Comments

        1. I thought it was ‘liberal’ right wingers who have helped to legalise drugs in some States. The right and rich have always had a penchant for it long before the poorer masses got in on the scene. It’s alway been do as we say not what we do after all being the ‘elite’ they have superior capacity to manage it they feel.

        2. The point is Botvinnik that maybe you SHOULD do drugs, at least to keep your schizophrenia under control.
          That would provide all of us normal people, both left and right leaning, a break from hate filled, political rants in a technology forum where it has no place.

  1. Sure Tim, and a billionaire picking up a penny from the sidewalk also realizes an infinite rate of return on his “investment”. That’s exciting growth, isn’t it?

    Nobody will give Cook credit for cashing in the paychecks from Steve Jobs’ App Store. Apple’s App Store was a stroke of genius that changed the way people buy software. With rare exception, Cook has delivered only incremental innovation since, and that’s why growth is slowing. Growth would not slow if Cook had a fraction of the passion that Jobs had for user experience.

    1. “Cook has delivered only incremental innovation since”

      Explain for your audience how you would improve Perfection, Mikey Dell?

      The innovation you don’t read about it, isn’t written here that’s for sure. But if you bothered with the trade publications and sectors of the industry unrelated to Tech, you’d see his name all over it.

      Just because Mikey doesn’t see the innovation, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening? Am I right?

        1. Forget it. You don’t have the stamina, nor the grey matter to compete.

          Your comments always devolve into ad hominem attacks of name-calling.

          That’s how we know when you’ve lost. You become so desperate for attention, you’ll say anything to remain relevant.

          You’re Steve Ballmer’s left nut! I don’t know who the bigger loser is, you or Ballmer’s left nut.

        2. Nah you have the brains of a baboon. That’s a lower order primate. 2-D cave paintings were amusing for a while but we’ve moved to 3-D representations since then. But your baboon brain is stuck in low gear. We know you like the taste to Tim’s knob butt licker.

        1. Oohh, can’t even get out of the starting gate with that one, huh?

          Ballmer’s left nut is having a bad day. I hate to break it to him but since stepping down from Microsoft Steve Ballmer has decided to become a eunuch and that means BLN will become a free agent.

          It’ll be rough without your cellmate, but hang in there left nut.

    2. Wasn’t Jobs originally against the App Store? I thought the rest of the team had to push it through despite his resistance. Jobs originally wanted 3rd parties to develop HTML5 apps and content for the iPhone. For all we know, Cook was one of the executive team that supported the App Store creation.

    3. and Mike, what company are you going to compare to when considering “growth”? Microscum? Dell? Sony? Lenovo? Uhhh, Motorola? HP? The computer industry as a whole?

  2. Cook is schooled in both strategy and tactics, his management team is exemplary. Is AAPL a growth stock? At these valuations, that’s a tough question to answer. Having said that, I wouldn’t count them out.

  3. Tim also said that Apple would not put its name on something other people had designed. Does anyone think he is referring to Samsung? /s

    I enjoyed reading the full WSJ interview. Everything Tim says makes a lot of sense. He provides excellent perspective on key business issues. Go Tim ! Go Apple !

  4. Nice interview, and I learned a few things. I didn’t know about the exchange rate for the Dollar having such an effect on the Apple growth rate in Japan. I should have known that if we had better financial reporters, but we just have sensation reporters, not thinkers.

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