So Steve has decided to call it a day as Apple CEO. The world is assuming that his health is not too good. Though this is not mentioned explicitly in his resignation letter to the board and Apple community he gives a sledgehammer sized hint by saying he can no longer meet ‘duties and expectations.’
The reaction of the stock market and media is fairly predictable. Apple stock has dropped nearly 5%, Asian competitor stock is up, and the price of Foxconn, the company that turns out the Apple hardware has also slid.
There are parallels with Gates’ two-year transition out of Microsoft, in June 2006, to focus on his philanthropy. At the time there was much fevered speculation about what it meant for Microsoft, as if he’d packed up a brown box of belongings and walked out of the building never to return. Gates didn’t go at all, he just moved into the role of chief software architect, and chairman of the company. Gates and Jobs were co-founders of their companies. Like Gates, Jobs is not leaving Apple, he will remain in place as a chairman and director.
There is no doubt that Jobs revolutionized Apple and saved it from extinction – the company is very different to the one he rejoined when Apple acquired NeXT in 1997. Jobs brought in brilliant people, and as a result the value of the Apple brand has grown into what it is today. But is Jobs the brand or Apple? Or are they the same thing?
Look at the experience on the board of Apple and the passion of individuals like Jonathan Ive, the man who really made Apple desirable to consumers, and it’s clear the company’s success is not down to one man and ‘the church of Steve.’
Consumers are the key to Apple’s success and let’s face it most of them don’t care whether it is Steve Jobs or my milkman (also called Steve) at the helm. The media response is predictably frenzied but that’s the nature of news reporting – you’ve got to cover the story and you need a different angle from your competitors.
But for most people who own Apple products it matters not a jot. I’ve not seen anyone this morning
looking at their iPod, scratching their heads and pondering the future of Apple. What will be interesting is to see how the story plays out long term. From a PR perspective, right now Apple needs to convince the business world and financial institutions that the future is green and shiny and its succession plan is the right one – Jobs remaining on the board should help.
Tim Cook is an experienced Apple veteran and he has done a sterling job at Apple – but he is not Steve Jobs, which could be his downfall, through no fault of his own. However, Apple’s five year product roadmap, up until 2015, apparently has Steve’s blessing and was no doubt heavily influenced by him. It would seem more than enough time for Cook to steer the company ahead – and to create the cult of Cook?
photo courtesy CEA