Apple ought to present CEO Tim Cook dinner the door, say analysts at analysis agency LightShed, though it doesn’t count on the corporate to make any adjustments on the high any time quickly.
In a notice to purchasers shared by Bloomberg, LightShed analysts Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone say that “Apple now wants a product-focused CEO, not one centered on logistics.”
As identified by Bloomberg, Apple’s shares have “badly lagged” behind these of rivals like Meta and Microsoft this yr after the corporate demonstrated an lack of ability to compete within the race to ship compelling synthetic intelligence options. Whereas Meta and Microsoft shares have loved positive factors of 25% and 19%, respectively, Apple share costs have taken a 16% hit to date in 2025.
From the notice:
Lacking on AI might basically alter the corporate’s long-term trajectory and skill to develop in any respect. AI will reshape industries throughout the worldwide financial system, and Apple dangers turning into certainly one of its casualties.
It must be famous that this yr’s Apple inventory worth stoop is a mere blip within the Cupertino agency’s long-term efficiency beneath Cook dinner’s management. Apple shares have gained over 1,400% since Cook dinner took over as CEO in 2011, in comparison with 430% for the S&P 500.
LightShed’s feedback come following information that Chief Working Officer Jeff Williams will probably be stepping down from his place later this month, to get replaced by long-time operations deputy Sabih Khan. Williams, a 30-year veteran of Apple, had as soon as been thought of as a possible successor to Cook dinner. Nonetheless, John Ternus, Apple’s senior vp of {hardware} engineering, is now thought of to be the almost certainly candidate for the job.
LightShed says “Tim Cook dinner was the correct CEO on the time of his appointment and unquestionably has finished an important job,” however now that Williams is departing, “it’s time for extra disruptive change, not much less.”
Nonetheless, we’re unlikely to see a transfer made on the high of Apple anytime quickly. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman stated in the newest version of his Energy On publication that there isn’t any speedy successor on the horizon. Gurman additionally notes that there haven’t been any indicators internally that Cook dinner is able to step down and hasn’t begun to groom a successor.
Most importantly, says Gurman, the board is in no hurry to make a change. There are a number of Cook dinner loyalists amongst Apple’s board of administrators, together with Susan Wagner, Ronald Sugar, and Arthur Levinson:
There’s no query Cook dinner bears duty for Apple’s present struggles. That features the corporate’s AI missteps, an getting older product lineup, the erosion of its design-focused tradition, a decade-long drought of breakthrough mainstream {hardware}, and its rising tensions with builders and regulators. However there’s additionally no query that the board nonetheless sees him as the one particular person able to turning issues round.
Put merely: No disaster is large enough to shake the board’s religion in Cook dinner.
Gurman sees Cook dinner’s affect at Apple growing, reasonably than waning, as he might tackle the function of Apple’s Chairman of the Board, along with his function as CEO, giving him much more energy on the firm. Levinson is already previous the corporate’s really helpful board retirement age. So, we might see Levinson retire and Cook dinner himself step into the function of Chairman. The transfer wouldn’t be unprecedented within the tech business, as now we have seen Cisco Methods’ Chuck Robbins and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella accomplish that at their corporations.
Maybe sarcastically, Apple has nearly by no means had the identical particular person in each roles; John Sculley technically held each roles in 1993, however it was just for a transition interval after being appointed to his short-lived place as Chairman of the Board; he resigned as CEO only some weeks later, handing the place over to Michael Spindler. This additionally occurred throughout the one interval in Apple’s historical past when the corporate’s board additionally had a vice-chairman, Mike Markkula, who served as chairman from 1977 till 1981, after which once more from 1985 till 1997, briefly stepping apart for just a few months whereas Sculley tried (and finally failed) to take the reins.
Even Apple’s legendary co-founder, Steve Jobs, by no means held each positions concurrently; Jobs served as Chairman of the Board from 1981 till his ouster in 1985, after which returned as CEO in 1997. He briefly grew to become Chairman once more in 2011, however solely after he stepped down as CEO and handed over the reins to Tim Cook dinner. Nonetheless, it’s additionally notable that Apple lacked a Chairman of the Board throughout Jobs’ tenure; after Mike Markkula stepped down as chair in 1997, the corporate was led as a substitute by two co-lead administrators: Arthur D. Levinson and Invoice Campbell, who was later changed by Andrea Jung. Levinson wasn’t appointed Chairman till after Jobs’ demise.
Whereas we might not see Tim Cook dinner step down as Apple’s CEO anytime quickly, Apple does have to adapt to the adjustments within the business, and its executives are conscious of this. Apple wants solely to look to BlackBerry and Nokia as examples of corporations that didn’t react rapidly sufficient to the altering whims of consumers.