“Five years ago this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook was handed an unenviable task — taking the helm of the company from terminally ill founder Steve Jobs, one of the iconic personalities of the age,” Harriet Taylor reports for CNBC.
“Even though the company has had significant successes in those five years — nearly a billion iPhones sold and both revenue and profits more than doubling — Cook’s legacy is likely to be defined more by what he does in the next five years, analysts say,” Taylor reports. “Though Cook has yet to prove he can be as innovative as the charismatic Jobs, he has successfully steered the franchise and maintained its position as the world’s most valuable company. ‘Historically, founder-led companies go through existential crises after the founder is gone,’ said Asymco analyst Horace Dediu. ‘The fact that Apple didn’t implode, but has grown, means mission accomplished.'”
“Apple’s stock is up 105 percent since Cook stepped into the CEO role, but has slid 3 percent over the past year. The S&P 500 is up 88 percent and 11 percent in those respective periods,” Taylor reports. “In Apple’s most recent quarterly results, revenue declined 14.6 percent — a second quarterly decline following 13 years of growth. With this shift, Cook’s legacy hangs in the balance… Under Cook, Apple has released one entirely new product: Apple Watch. The device has delivered billions of dollars in revenue, opened up an entirely new product category, and laid the groundwork for the company to deliver wellness and health services. ‘They took a risk with Apple Watch, which I think is a phenomenal product,’ said Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We can hardly wait to see what the next five years brings!
Think of it, in the next half a decade, we might even see a new Mac Pro! 😉