Will Apple Still Have Bite Without Steve Jobs
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Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs has turned the brand into an icon of the industry. His announcement that he is handing over the day-to-day running of the business because of ongoing illness has led to much speculation and concern.
On Wednesday Apple’s share price fell 10 per cent on the news of Jobs taking a back seat for six months. They had already fallen from their $192.24 high in May 2008 and today are trading at around $83.00 because of concerns over Job’s health and fears of the impact the worldwide economic downturn is going to have on demand for Apple’s premium products. This effectively means that all the gains the stock made on the unveiling of the iPhone in 2007 have been erased.
Though Jobs as chief executive of Apple had a unique role at the heart of the company and was involved in everything from conception of new products to marketing, not all analysts believe that Apple is dependent on him.
“We believe that the corporate strategy that Jobs implemented, including a strong emphasis on product design, will remain intact,” said Maynard Um, a UBS analyst. “The leadership team Jobs assembled is more than capable to continue to execute the strategy both near and long term.”
“Steve is the public face of Apple and nothing beats when he goes out and says, ‘Tada!” said Mike Janes who worked with Jobs at Apple for five years. “But someone has to take all those amazing product designs and turn them into that big pile of cash you see in the company’s bank account. That’s Tim,” he said, speaking of Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer who has taken the reins while Jobs is recovering.
Mr Cook, who has been with Apple for 10 years, is credited with turning around its manufacturing and logistics. He also has experience as vice-president at Compaq and 12 years with IBM.
Andrew Hertzfeld, involved in the development of the original Macintosh believes that after 12 years under Jobs, the company has soaked up his values and that “it will take half a decade for the absence of Steve to really show up in the products.”
There is still concern out there over what the impact of Mr Jobs absence will be though, even beyond Apple.
“The whole world is concerned about Apple. I’m concerned about Silicon Valley,” commented entrepreneur Stephen G. Perlman, a leading scientist at the company during in the 80s. “I need Apple to be harrying Microsoft. We need someone stirring the pot. God forbid that there is no one stirring the pot anymore. We’ll become Detroit.”
