This is a landmark event for the entire technology industry: Tim Cook has officially stepped down as Apple's CEO, making way for John Ternus, who has spent 25 years at the company and rose from the hardware engineering sector. The market reacted cautiously—AAPL shares showed a slight decline, which is quite expected during moments of corporate leadership transition. However, behind this facade lie much deeper strategic changes.
A generational shift in leadership
Cook, who led Apple for nearly 15 years, now moves to the position of executive chairman of the board of directors. Alongside him, company veteran and marketing chief Phil Schiller is also stepping back from operational control, having handed over management of the App Store and product presentation organization to Eddy Cue and Kristin Huguet Quayle. Although Schiller retains the title of Apple Fellow, internally this move is seen as preparation for his full retirement. Ternus now faces the challenging task of building a new team culture and compensating for the departure of highly experienced specialists who have been the backbone of the company for decades.
The main challenge—iPhone sales
Contrary to many expectations, the new CEO's priority lies not in the field of artificial intelligence, but in the seemingly mundane task of increasing sales of the flagship product. As industry experts rightly note, it is the iPhone that remains the primary driver of Apple's business. Over the last quarter, revenue from smartphone sales grew by an impressive 21%, which over the year lifted the company's shares by 37%. But there is a flip side to this coin: rising memory chip prices are putting serious pressure on margins, and Ternus will have to balance between maintaining profitability and competitiveness.
My analysis shows that the new leader's strategy is built on two key bets: the release of a foldable iPhone and a radically revamped Siri voice assistant based on the Gemini model. This is a direct signal to the market that Apple intends not just to catch up with competitors in the AI race, but also to achieve a technological breakthrough that will allow it to make up for lost time.
Market reaction and outlook
On Monday, AAPL shares dipped to $313, but partially recovered by the evening, trading around $316.85—0.89% below Friday's close of $319.70. Investors on social media noted a spike in volatility at the moment of the power transition. Nevertheless, over the past 12 months, Apple's stock has gained about 37%, although the all-time high set in July, when the company's market capitalization came close to $5 trillion, has not yet been surpassed.
The September 9 presentation, where the foldable iPhone is expected to be announced, will be Ternus's first exam. It is there that it will become clear whether he can turn Apple's engineering power into a real breakthrough in the artificial intelligence market. Personally, I believe that the success of the new strategy will depend not on technical specifications, but on Apple's ability to offer an ecosystem AI product that is organically integrated into users' daily lives—this is the only path to maintaining dominance in the next decade.