The legendary Tim Cook era has come to an end. After nearly 15 years at the helm of Apple, he is moving to the post of executive chairman of the board of directors, handing over the CEO seat to John Ternus — a company veteran with 25 years of experience, coming from the hardware development sector. The market has already reacted to this landmark event with a slight decline in stock prices, but the true scale of the changes is still ahead.
Personnel reshuffles and the new team
The leadership change is accompanied by other significant shifts at the top of Apple. Company veteran and marketer Phil Schiller, who for many years oversaw the App Store and the organization of product presentations, has stepped away from these tasks. These areas now come under the control of services chief Eddy Cue and communications director Kristin Huguet Quayle. Schiller retains the title of Apple Fellow, but behind the scenes at the company, this is perceived as preparation for his full retirement. Ternus faces a difficult task — building a new team culture and compensating for the departure of such experienced specialists.
The main challenge — iPhone sales
Contrary to expectations, the new CEO's top priority does not lie in the realm of artificial intelligence. As industry experts rightly note, Ternus's main focus is to continue successfully selling the iPhone. This product remains the engine of the entire Apple empire: last quarter, revenue from iPhone sales grew by an impressive 21%, which over the past year has lifted the company's shares by 37%. However, Ternus will have to walk a tightrope: rising memory chip prices are putting serious pressure on margins, and holding them will be extremely difficult.
For the future, the new chief is making two key bets: a foldable iPhone and a fully revamped Siri voice assistant based on the Gemini model. In this way, Ternus intends to demonstrate that Apple is still capable of technological breakthroughs and can close the noticeable gap with competitors in the artificial intelligence race.
Market reaction and prospects
On Monday, AAPL shares fell to $313, but partially recovered by evening, trading at $316.85 — down 0.89% from Friday's close ($319.70). Investors on social media noted a spike in volatility at the moment of the power transition. Despite today's dip, Apple shares have gained about 37% over the year, although they have not yet reached the all-time high set in July, when the market capitalization briefly approached $5 trillion.
Whether Ternus can turn Apple's engineering power into a breakthrough in the AI market will be shown at the September 9 presentation, where the foldable iPhone is expected to be announced.
My analysis: The leadership change at Apple is not just a personnel reshuffle, but a signal of a shift in strategic paradigm. Ternus, a hardware guy through and through, is betting on hardware and the integration of AI into devices. This is risky, but if he manages to bring a truly innovative foldable iPhone to market, Apple could not only catch up with but also overtake competitors in the new technological wave. However, investors should closely watch the margins — cost pressure could become the Achilles' heel of the new leadership.