What Tim Cook built | Results TechCrunch

After 15 years as CEO of Apple, Tim Cook has resigned starting session in September.

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcastKirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and I discussed Apple’s big announcement. We considered how Apple has changed since Cook took over from Steve Jobs in 2011, and what challenges incoming CEO John Ternus will face.

“If you look at the other camp, it’s like, ‘John Ternus is a sales guy and this is going to be amazing’ and it’s really exciting and going back to Steve Jobs,” Kirsten said. “But I think what people forget is that Tim Cook really created something, which was about work.”

Similarly, Sean said that Cook gave Ternus a strong “start” as “the company’s numbers just kept growing.” But startups don’t necessarily mean success: “How much volatility is there? Are we really looking at the state (and) collapse of the global economy, along with the rise of artificial intelligence to change the way business is done?”

Read on to see – edited for clarity – our full discussion.

Anthony: The decisions that Apple makes also come down to the group of other companies, because there are all kinds of startups that may not do all of their business on the iOS platform, but a large part of their business comes on the iPhone.

Kirsten: I think it’s been really interesting to see different pockets of technology responding to whether this is a good or bad move and (asking) what was Tim Cook’s success and what does Apple want now?

If you look at the other camp, it’s like, “John Ternus is a sales guy and this is going to be amazing” and it’s very interesting and it goes back to Steve Jobs. But I think what people forget is that Tim Cook actually created something, which was about work. And there have been some very interesting stories, even in books that have gone deep into this. Its operating system is an Apple product. And it changed the whole economy.

The question for me is: What happens when a skilled worker leaves? Who is filling that need? Because you can make great things, and that’s a big part of Apple’s ecosystem for sure. But you must have a work plan. And the world is changing, it’s not the same as Tim Cook did it the first time.

Sean: Not really, but it’s hard to imagine a better start for a new CEO than the company that Tim Cook has built.

As much as people complain about some of Apple’s products standing still, the iPhone hasn’t changed its design in generations, everything new you get is sleeker and more stable, like the Vision Pro – for all of this, the company’s numbers just keep going up. They are bringing in tons of money. He makes a lot of money from the service business that Tim Cook created.

They are, in some ways, making a better brand than in the past, even going out and making things, like won an Oscar for the moviethere’s a lot going on. And it seems like a solid business, even in tough times, that Ternus can’t worry about how the first year looks.

Let’s say: Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO in September of this year. He will also be the executive chairman. So I think this idea is, Tim Cook is not going to go and he will remain as your shield, and to be his partner, the Trump administration. Because he’s proven that he can do that — sacrificing, I think, what a lot of people would argue are some of Apple’s strengths in doing that, to make sure that those relationships are strong enough. Donald Trump though post a Social Truth post about how Tim Cook kisses his ass all the time, in response to this story.

So the question, with all that said, is: For as comfortable a start as this is for Ternus, what volatility is just around the corner? Are we really looking at what’s happening (with) the global financial crisis, and the rise of innovation to change the way business is done? Is that something that would be easy for him to do? And who will he put by his side to prove his worth?

Anthony: And I think related to that is the question (is,) Apple seems to have a very strong business right now, on the hardware side and more and more on the service side, but can it continue to have that business and just play on the past? How long does it take to create a new product category?

I don’t know the exact answer to that. And maybe the iPhone (is) the creation of the cell phone category, basically, it’s a one-of-a-kind thing, you can’t expect it to happen every 10 years or so.

I think there is also this interesting question around AI. It doesn’t seem to be a category that Apple has done very well, and maybe that’s okay. Maybe all the things that can end up there, it’s just an app on your iPhone, on your MacBook, and Apple is good enough not to build all that (and) instead you do interactions like it does.

But I don’t think it’s guaranteed. I think there’s probably a lot of anxiety and worry about what that future looks like.

Kirsten: The real quick, is that Apple is also able and has the money to make big bets and acquisitions. And I’ll be interested to see how John (Ternus) does that.

I mean, one of the places I mentioned about Apple is the special projects group, Project Titan, which was supposed to be Apple’s car, and it seems to have gone awry and a lot of money was spent. Have they made any big bets?

You guys talk about the money available, and I think it’s over $45 billion by the end of 2025. So they have a lot of money to play with. Are they going to do anything with it soon?

Sean: Another thing that I think we should say is that, when we talk about Apple having a stable business, the App Store is also breaking it recently. Sarah Perez wrote a great article this week for us different ways that numbers are in the App Store – installation, a new release in the App Store, is just a fun look for anyone who wants to dig into the world’s largest marketplace.

In a world where everyone is talking about how your ability to code anything will eliminate the need for app distribution, (the App Store) proves that wrong.