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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The end of Steve Jobs’ reign as Apple Inc.
CEO doesn’t mean he is bowing out as the maestro of personal
technology.
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True to its tight-lipped style, Apple isn’t spelling out how
actively involved Jobs will be as the company’s new chairman while
he tends to his own fragile health after surviving pancreatic
cancer and a liver transplant during the past seven
years.
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But longtime Apple watchers have no doubt that Jobs will weigh in
on all key decisions and help sculpt the company’s future product
lineup.
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“I know enough about Steve Jobs to know that as long as he has a
breath in him, he will be giving direction at Apple,” said Tim
Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies and the dean of Apple
analysts. “He is going to remain Apple’s chief
visionary.”
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In his Wednesday resignation letter as CEO, Jobs, 56, wrote that he
planned to be “watching and contributing” to Apple’s success as
chairman, a position that had long been vacant.
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In a sign of his commitment, Jobs put in a full day at Apple’s
Cupertino headquarters during his last full day as CEO, even though
he was technically still on medical leave, said Yankee Group
analyst Carl Howe.
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Bajarin and other people in close contact with Apple said Jobs
remained intimately involved there even as he spent 14 of the past
32 months on medical leaves of absence. During that stretch, Apple
kept pumping out smash hits and became more successful than ever,
with its market value swelling from $80 billion to nearly $350
billion today.
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Even so, the mere specter of Apple operating without Jobs conjures
unwelcome memories. After co-founding Apple in 1976 and
establishing it as a technology trailblazer, Jobs was forced out in
1985. When he finally returned in 1997, the company was in danger
in going bankrupt and even needed financial help from longtime
nemesis Microsoft Corp. to survive.
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The ongoing prosperity during Jobs’ recent illnesses is a testament
to the management team he assembled and schooled, and to his own
ability to remain engaged and inspired even as he
convalesces.
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The Steve Jobs way is so deeply ingrained in Apple’s DNA that
analysts are convinced that new CEO Tim Cook and his key
subordinates no longer need to hear from Jobs every day to know
what he wants.
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In a Thursday letter to Apple employees, Cook stressed he won’t
mess with the formula that worked so well during Jobs’ 14-year
tenure as CEO.
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“I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change,”
Cook wrote. “I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and
values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other
in the world and we are going to stay true to that.”
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Cook also noted that he is “looking forward to Steve’s ongoing
guidance and inspiration.”
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Cook, who has run Apple during all three of Jobs’ medical absences
since 2004, will have ample help beyond his former boss. The other
key players include marketing guru Phil Schiller, design chief
Jonathan Ive, software mastermind Scott Forstall and the head of
finance, Peter Oppenheimer.
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“If you were trying to describe this group of people, it would be
the dream team of executive management,” said Howe said.
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Nearly all the key Apple executives have been at the company for
years, many of them joining the company around the time of Jobs’
1997 return.
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The biggest area of concern is Ron Johnson, the man in charge of
the Apple stores that have become the main showcase for the
company’s sleek devices. Johnson is leaving Apple in November to
become J.C. Penney Co.’s CEO, but Howe thinks Apple won’t have much
problem finding another savvy merchant to replace him.
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Jobs has done such a masterful job plotting Apple’s progression
from the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad that the next few years of
new products are probably already in the pipeline. With an
operating system already in place for use on a multitude of
devices, it’s likely that Jobs already has laid the groundwork to
place Apple’s technology on other gadgets with screens, including
in-car navigation systems and televisions, Bajarin said.
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Investors appear to be betting that Apple won’t miss a beat.
Apple’s stock dipped $2.46, or less than 1 percent, Thursday to
close at $373.72.
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Things could get rocky if it becomes clear Jobs’ health is getting
worse. He has looked frail in his recent public
appearances.
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Jobs resignation letter indicated he isn’t feeling well enough to
be a full-time CEO. But analysts think that could just mean he has
figured out he needs to focus more on his health and spend just
part of his time as Apple’s chief visionary.
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The resignation may even turn out to be a positive for Apple
because it will end the perpetual guessing game about who is going
to succeed Jobs as CEO and give Cook even more of a chance to prove
his management chops, said Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu.
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Jobs’ decision to step aside “is very brave,” Wu said. “Some guys
hold on to the last minute, but he had the foresight, the maturity
level to do this. It’s a huge step.”
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Apple’s hot streak probably made the choice easier, Bajarin said.
“If there ever was a time where Steve Jobs was going to make his
own health his top job, this is it.”
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It could well be that Jobs will relish the opportunity to focus
more on big-picture ideas and less on the more mundane tasks of
running a company that can now be left to Cook and others, said Jay
Elliot, a former Apple vice president who worked closely with Jobs
in the 1980s.
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“Steve is incredibly passionate about the product, his whole life
is driven by the product,” said Elliot, who wrote a book “The Steve
Jobs Way – iLeadership For a New Generation.” “I view him as an
artist making sure the final painting is a masterpiece.”
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—
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AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson in San Francisco contributed
to this story.
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