Tim Cook has officially stepped down as CEO of Apple, handing the reins to John Ternus. This is not just a personnel reshuffle, but a change of an entire era in the history of the tech giant. Company veteran and marketer Phil Schiller has also stepped back from key operational tasks, signaling a deep transformation of the management structure.
Cook led Apple for almost 15 years, and now he transitions to the role of executive chairman of the board of directors. His successor, Ternus, has spent 25 years at the company, coming from the hardware development sector. However, the main challenge for the new CEO will by no means be hardware, but artificial intelligence, where Apple is showing a noticeable lag behind competitors.
Personnel Changes and the New Team
Phil Schiller, who for a long time was responsible for the App Store and organizing product presentations, has relinquished these responsibilities. Now these areas will be managed by services chief Eddy Cue and communications director Kristin Huguet Quayle. Schiller will retain the title of Apple Fellow, but within the company this move is seen as preparation for his retirement. Ternus now faces the task of building a new team culture and compensating for the departure of experienced specialists, which is always a stress for any corporation.
The Main Task — Selling iPhones
Big Technology founder Alex Kantrowitz emphasized on CNBC that Ternus's primary task is not related to artificial intelligence. "First and foremost, he needs to sell iPhones. He has to sell iPhones," the expert stated. And this claim has a solid foundation: last quarter, iPhone revenue grew by 21%, which over the past year has lifted Apple's stock by 37%. It is this indicator that is the key driver of the company's market capitalization.
However, Ternus will have to walk a fine line: memory chip prices are rising, creating a risk to margins. The new chief looks to the future with two bets: a foldable iPhone and an updated Siri voice assistant based on the Gemini model. Thus, Ternus is trying to prove that Apple is still capable of technological breakthroughs and can close the gap in the artificial intelligence race.
Market Reaction and Prospects
On Monday, AAPL shares dropped to $313 but partially recovered their positions by the evening. Trading closed at $316.85, which is 0.89% below Friday's close ($319.70). Investors on social network X noticed a spike in volatility at the moment of the power transition. Despite the dip, Apple's stock has gained about 37% over the year. The price has not yet reached the historical high set in July, when market capitalization briefly approached $5 trillion.
Whether Ternus can turn Apple's engineering power into a breakthrough in the AI market will be shown by the presentation on September 9, where the announcement of a foldable iPhone is expected.
My view: A change of leadership at Apple is always a signal to the market, but in this case, judging by the moderate reaction, investors are pricing in continuity of course rather than revolution. The key risk for Ternus is not so much the technological lag in AI, but the ability to maintain iPhone's pricing power amid rising component costs. If he manages to combine innovations in "hardware" with aggressive monetization of AI services, the stock has the potential for a new surge toward $5 trillion in market capitalization.