Who do you think should be the CEO of Apple in 5 years?

I would assume the speculation is due to some perceived problem with Cook but I'm not seeing this problem. Apple has never been better so I don't immediately see a problem in need of solution offered by a new CEO.

Tim Cook once said he expected Steve to be at Apple long after he retired so I think he plans to retire but maybe not for another 10-15 years. There needs to be someone to take the reigns when he is absent and I'm sure that person will become known just as Tim became known when Steve was absent.

I'd rather it wasn't someone who has an important role in other areas as those other areas might suffer. Tim is an ideal choice as his busiest time will be near a new product launch but the rest of the time, he can manage the whole operation.

What the outside world wants from a CEO is different from what Apple needs. The outside world is realy looking for a face for the company so it doesn't just become a brand like every other brand. Only staff at Apple can know who is right for the role, the face can be anyone. I like Forstall as the face of the company.

Steve's legacy can continue to lead the company. He learned and applied principles in the course of his life, he hired like-minded people, they have stengthened those principles and ideas by repetition. When you have children and educate/discipline them, you repeat genetic and ideological information to keep your uniqueness alive. In that regard, Steve is still leading the company.

The only place where it breaks down is when new information needs to come along but it doesn't have to come from the leader. Steve Jobs didn't invent everything Apple has done. He just enforced a set of principles that put creativity first and teams of people pulled ideas together. All Apple has to do is reaffirm the core values and follow the path. Tim Cook has shown that he knows and respects those values.

There are plenty of inventors and creatives still at Apple who have a different way of looking at the world and are ready to push their ideas out. They might never make anything as revolutionary as the devices made in the last decade but when was the last time you saw a revolutionary car or cooker? Sometimes things reach a plateau beyond which there isn't a need to improve significantly.

Forstall is down to Earth and although nothing he has said springs to mind as profound, that common sense approach to things is a very good place to start. A lot of people at Apple seem too concerned with presentation and marketing.

I agree that Tony Fadell comes across as having more of a thought process like Steve but it sounds like Apple is in the past for him now:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/24/tony-fadell-on-jobs-and-apples-legacy-tctv/

Everybody ages and decides it's time to move on. For us, it's easy to look for people who have done great things and expect them to keep doing the same thing but when we see a product for 5 years, it's easy to not realise the people involved may have spent 20-30 years of their lives working towards it and they just don't want to do it any more.

Like any company, I expect to see more senior staff drift away as time goes on and younger staff will be there to take their place. Someone will eventually replace Tim but the success or failure of the company won't solely depend on that choice.

I agree but he wasn't Apple's CEO at the time, which means the CEO doesn't have to be the innovative one.

Plus the iPhone wouldn't have taken off without iOS nor without the price reduction, which Forstall and Cook would have been responsible for.

A lot of people assume that great ideas always trickle down from the top. History has shown that they can spring up from anywhere. All the CEO has to do is manage people properly and allow great ideas to come through. Take people like Steve Ballmer, the respect is for developers, developers, developers. That's fine but it creates a different type of company and the creatives are clearly overpowered there. I don't see the same thing happening under Cook.

Let's say Fadell did want to go back to long working hours at Apple once his kids are grown up. What change would you expect from him?

Again assuming Apple will be driven to ruin under Cook, which I don't think will be the case. Apple's share price sky-rocketed under Cook's leadership so far. They've backtracked on a few things but for the most part, they've done brilliantly in every area. We'll have to give it a couple of years before we'll see if there's any long-term flaws in the company as it stands.