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I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs. No one will ever have Jobs' combination of taste and presence, but I think these numbe

I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs. No one will ever have Jobs' combination of taste and presence, but I think these numbers are showing that spending as much time managing the supply chain and making inroads into emerging markets is as important as playing with foam cutouts with Jony Ive.

geoelectric 11y ago
You know how it typically takes one CEO to make a newly founded startup viable and successful, then a transition to another to keep it there? Think that's what we're seeing here.
- padobson 11y ago
  Yes, on steroids.
lukeqsee 11y ago
> I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs. I don't know if this was ever in question. I never viewed Jobs as a particularly good CEO—charismatic and spiritual leader, yes. Good CEO? Probably not. He knew how to motivate people to get his version of the truth to consumers, and that version was incredibly successful. Jobs was a marketer (and perhaps innately clairvoyant) at heart who was so successful at marketing that he could do a good job at CEO and create a multi-billion-dollar company. Cook is a genius at the broad-stroke of business operations and most likely leaves the storytelling and imagination to others. It's little surprise the immediate results are a better bottom-line. Time will only tell if Apple truly has enough creativity and stories in the ranks to be long-term successful. (I think it does.)
- pbreit 11y ago
  Sorry, but I think Tim is still mostly coasting on Jobs' brilliance. Not only was he a product genius but he was a gifted recruiter. At the senior level, Cook is 1 for 2 at best. Forstall may have been a jerk (like Jobs) but was arguably the second most important person on the iPhone. Or look at it this way: would Cook be doing as well without his predecessor? Almost certainly not. Would Apple be doing as well with Jobs still at the helm. Almost certainly so.
snyp 11y ago
tim was the COO when steve was around, you have to also remember that the markets now are much larger than the one's before.. i do believe tim is an exceptional CEO but these numbers seem to reflect better and increased interest in apple products and bigger market size thanks to their bold expansion into asian countries
- protomyth 11y ago
  Tim Cook was the COO not the CFO
  - snyp 11y ago
    thanks for that
flyinglizard 11y ago
Tim Cook is masterfully using all of Apple's inertia to keep breaking revenue records. He's refining and improving existing products, but he's not leading a foray into a completely new category like Steve Jobs did over and over again. It will work as long as improvements in its core markets occur on a linear curve. It won't withstand an competitor making the product obsolete (for example, a possible transition from mobile to wearables - not that I'd put my money there, but still). Also, the Watch seems like it could have benefited from some Steve Jobs type of editing and distilling. That's the kind of product focused authority that such a company really needs.
davmar 11y ago
too early to tell. so far, we know he hasn't messed up the formula and financially he's off to a great start. but jobs faced steeper hurdles right away bringing the company back from bankruptcy and reinvigorating morale within the company. jobs then successfully invented new product categories and much of the success apple is enjoying comes from an expanding smart phone market, which you rightly point out that cook is doing a fantastic job of addressing. the apple watch will take a couple years to see if it's really a success. lots of fanfare so far, but it could fade in popularity like the iPad which, if you recall, was an incredibly fast growing category. the iphone franchise, just like any other franchise, cannot last forever. and to find another product category with growth like that is going to be a very, very difficult thing to do. i personally believe that SIRI will be the most important category at apple over the next 5-10 years. voice interfaces, without the use of a 5" screen will be the next most important UI/UX in computing. and i would not currently bet on apple to be the best at delivering that. i'd say cook will have to be measured by his ability to dictate and keep up with technology trends, not just manage the supply chain. but you're right, he's done a great job of that for sure.
pvg 11y ago
It's a nearly impossible comparison to make. Under Steve Job as CEO (and with Tim Cook in key operational roles), Apple went from innovative, iconic, dying computer maker to one of the world's most successful companies, top pc maker, creator of shiny new products, upender of markets, stupidly profitable retailer, global brand name, etc, etc. Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple's gone from that to a ludicrously more profitable, bigger version of that. He's clearly done very well but the starting point is different, the time period is shorter. Tim Cook helped Apple become an Imperial Star Destroyer and is apparently a pretty competent captain of one.

geoelectric 11y ago

You know how it typically takes one CEO to make a newly founded startup viable and successful, then a transition to another to keep it there? Think that's what we're seeing here.

padobson 11y ago
Yes, on steroids.

lukeqsee 11y ago

> I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs. I don't know if this was ever in question. I never viewed Jobs as a particularly good CEO—charismatic and spiritual leader, yes. Good CEO? Probably not. He knew how to motivate people to get his version of the truth to consumers, and that version was incredibly successful. Jobs was a marketer (and perhaps innately clairvoyant) at heart who was so successful at marketing that he could do a good job at CEO and create a multi-billion-dollar company. Cook is a genius at the broad-stroke of business operations and most likely leaves the storytelling and imagination to others. It's little surprise the immediate results are a better bottom-line. Time will only tell if Apple truly has enough creativity and stories in the ranks to be long-term successful. (I think it does.)

pbreit 11y ago
Sorry, but I think Tim is still mostly coasting on Jobs' brilliance. Not only was he a product genius but he was a gifted recruiter. At the senior level, Cook is 1 for 2 at best. Forstall may have been a jerk (like Jobs) but was arguably the second most important person on the iPhone. Or look at it this way: would Cook be doing as well without his predecessor? Almost certainly not. Would Apple be doing as well with Jobs still at the helm. Almost certainly so.

snyp 11y ago

tim was the COO when steve was around, you have to also remember that the markets now are much larger than the one's before.. i do believe tim is an exceptional CEO but these numbers seem to reflect better and increased interest in apple products and bigger market size thanks to their bold expansion into asian countries

protomyth 11y ago
Tim Cook was the COO not the CFO
- snyp 11y ago
  thanks for that

flyinglizard 11y ago

Tim Cook is masterfully using all of Apple's inertia to keep breaking revenue records. He's refining and improving existing products, but he's not leading a foray into a completely new category like Steve Jobs did over and over again. It will work as long as improvements in its core markets occur on a linear curve. It won't withstand an competitor making the product obsolete (for example, a possible transition from mobile to wearables - not that I'd put my money there, but still). Also, the Watch seems like it could have benefited from some Steve Jobs type of editing and distilling. That's the kind of product focused authority that such a company really needs.

davmar 11y ago

too early to tell. so far, we know he hasn't messed up the formula and financially he's off to a great start. but jobs faced steeper hurdles right away bringing the company back from bankruptcy and reinvigorating morale within the company. jobs then successfully invented new product categories and much of the success apple is enjoying comes from an expanding smart phone market, which you rightly point out that cook is doing a fantastic job of addressing. the apple watch will take a couple years to see if it's really a success. lots of fanfare so far, but it could fade in popularity like the iPad which, if you recall, was an incredibly fast growing category. the iphone franchise, just like any other franchise, cannot last forever. and to find another product category with growth like that is going to be a very, very difficult thing to do. i personally believe that SIRI will be the most important category at apple over the next 5-10 years. voice interfaces, without the use of a 5" screen will be the next most important UI/UX in computing. and i would not currently bet on apple to be the best at delivering that. i'd say cook will have to be measured by his ability to dictate and keep up with technology trends, not just manage the supply chain. but you're right, he's done a great job of that for sure.

pvg 11y ago

It's a nearly impossible comparison to make. Under Steve Job as CEO (and with Tim Cook in key operational roles), Apple went from innovative, iconic, dying computer maker to one of the world's most successful companies, top pc maker, creator of shiny new products, upender of markets, stupidly profitable retailer, global brand name, etc, etc. Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple's gone from that to a ludicrously more profitable, bigger version of that. He's clearly done very well but the starting point is different, the time period is shorter. Tim Cook helped Apple become an Imperial Star Destroyer and is apparently a pretty competent captain of one.