Apple's Angela Ahrendts calls rumors of being Cook's successor 'fake news'

Posted:
in General Discussion
In denying rumors that she's lined up to replace Tim Cook whenever he exits as CEO, Apple's senior VP of retail -- Angela Ahrendts -- borrowed a phrase from U.S. President Donald Trump.




"Fake news, fake news, silly, no," Ahrendts said in a video interview with BuzzFeed News, released on Tuesday. She was joined by Cook, and spoke with BuzzFeed at last week's launch of the new Michigan Avenue store in Chicago.

Cook avoided the question.

"I see my role as CEO to prepare as many people as I can to be CEO, and that's what I'm doing, and then the board makes a decision at that point in time," he commented.



Cook separately replied to the prospect of severe shortages of the iPhone X, which goes up for preorder on Friday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time, 3:01 a.m. Eastern. Multiple reports have pointed to production bottlenecks caused by the phone's TrueDepth camera.

"We'll see what happens," he said, "but we'll be working as hard as possible to make as many as possible."

On the topic of Trump -- whose name is on a hotel within sight of Apple Michigan Avenue -- Cook dismissed the possibility that the President might retaliate against opposition on matters like immigration and LGBT rights. Trump infamously attacked Apple during his election campaign, but has also bragged about bringing related jobs to the U.S. Cook has attended White House meetings and made phone calls.

"We stay out of politics but we do engage on policy discussion," Cook said. "But we don't go back and forth on personality kind of stuff. That's not what we're about. I think most people look at that and even if they disagree, they respect if you're coming from an authentic place."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 52
    Wow, kiss Apple good-bye if it does turn out to be true.  Apple has already lost a lot of its innovative spirit with the death of Steve Jobs.  Tim Cook is a great supply chain guy but is having difficulty doing much more than polishing the iPhone line as much as possible.  To even suggest that a marketing executive whose experience is primarily in fashion goods would be an appropriate leader for one of the greatest technological companies in the world is ludicrous.

    Apple would do well to take a note from Microsoft.  Steve Balmer did his best to ruin it because he simply didn't have the technical ability to see where the company needed to be in five-to-ten years.  Now they've finally got someone back in the big chair who has degrees in electrical engineering and computer science as well as an MBA.  You need to be a high-level user of your company's products to be able to predict where the future lies.  Nadella is doing a lot to turn Microsoft around.

    Apple needs to be grooming a talented engineer with great design skills to be the next CEO.
    retrogustominicoffee
  • Reply 2 of 52
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    My only concern about who ever replaces Tim, the board should not pick someone to appease some social pressure or PC Police. They need to pick the right person not just any person. In the end it going to be had to find the right person. Steve picked Tim, but the board will pick the next person and too many on that board have social agendas they trying to drive forward and will use Apple success to drive those agendas.
  • Reply 3 of 52
    kent909kent909 Posts: 731member
    Everyone needs to stop using the term “fake news”. The use of the term normalizies it. This was a rumor. There is a important difference between fake news and a rumor.
    edited October 2017 pscooter63king editor the grateretrogustoSoliJustaTechoJWSCkiowavtdanhMacPro
  • Reply 4 of 52
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    78Bandit said:
    Wow, kiss Apple good-bye if it does turn out to be true.  Apple has already lost a lot of its innovative spirit with the death of Steve Jobs.  Tim Cook is a great supply chain guy but is having difficulty doing much more than polishing the iPhone line as much as possible.  To even suggest that a marketing executive whose experience is primarily in fashion goods would be an appropriate leader for one of the greatest technological companies in the world is ludicrous.

    Apple would do well to take a note from Microsoft.  Steve Balmer did his best to ruin it because he simply didn't have the technical ability to see where the company needed to be in five-to-ten years.  Now they've finally got someone back in the big chair who has degrees in electrical engineering and computer science as well as an MBA.  You need to be a high-level user of your company's products to be able to predict where the future lies.  Nadella is doing a lot to turn Microsoft around.

    Apple needs to be grooming a talented engineer with great design skills to be the next CEO.
    Cook's various remarks on Augmented Reality alone refute your simplistic view. You are thinking like a typical left-brained Microsoftie.

    Jobs left behind a design and vision PROCESS, an entire system of innovation that's basically centered on Ive-and-company's labs. (Even Ive's innovation and design strategies are distributed across the process/system.)

    You can't see this working for another reason besides your hemispheric blindness to the big picture — the coming AR revolution depends on wearable screen technologies that aren't up to Apple's standards yet. Pay attention to micro LED development, along with the usual chip miniaturization from Apple. Cook knows exactly he's doing, and he has many visionary hardware people in his retinue.
    Rayz2016iqatedoGG1potatoleeksoupStrangeDaysMacsplosionpscooter63caliLukeCagejony0
  • Reply 5 of 52
    Jeff Williams is the most likely candidate in my book.
    tmaySpamSandwichmacplusplus
  • Reply 6 of 52
    Like him or not, the man is a class act. Steve picked wisely.
    retrogustoiqatedotzm41tmayradarthekatGG1StrangeDaysmacplusplusJWSCpscooter63
  • Reply 7 of 52
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    “Fake news”

    I hope she she doesn’t use that expression again. 

    kiowavt
  • Reply 8 of 52
    ariearie Posts: 27member
    My choice : bring Scott Forstall back. He grew up in the apple tradition with Steve.  Or someone who has similar background. 
    asdasdBacillus3monstrositykseckestralmacpluspluscaliAI_lias
  • Reply 9 of 52
    65026502 Posts: 380member
    God help us if Angela is ever Apple CEO. I rather bring back Scully.
    SpamSandwichwozwozkestral
  • Reply 10 of 52
    65026502 Posts: 380member
    Like him or not, the man is a class act. Steve picked wisely.
    Being a class act is great if you are a PR rep maybe not so much for CEO. Some of the best CEOs were not considered class acts (Jobs, Gates, Ballmer, Dell)
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 11 of 52
    78Bandit said:
    Wow, kiss Apple good-bye if it does turn out to be true.  Apple has already lost a lot of its innovative spirit with the death of Steve Jobs.  Tim Cook is a great supply chain guy but is having difficulty doing much more than polishing the iPhone line as much as possible.  To even suggest that a marketing executive whose experience is primarily in fashion goods would be an appropriate leader for one of the greatest technological companies in the world is ludicrous.

    Apple would do well to take a note from Microsoft.  Steve Balmer did his best to ruin it because he simply didn't have the technical ability to see where the company needed to be in five-to-ten years.  Now they've finally got someone back in the big chair who has degrees in electrical engineering and computer science as well as an MBA.  You need to be a high-level user of your company's products to be able to predict where the future lies.  Nadella is doing a lot to turn Microsoft around.

    Apple needs to be grooming a talented engineer with great design skills to be the next CEO.
    What are you talking about? Tim Cook nor anyone on the board ever said Angela Ahrendts was being groomed to be CEO. If anyone is it’s Jeff Williams.
    cali
  • Reply 12 of 52

    kent909 said:
    Everyone needs to stop using the term “fake news”. The use of the term normalizies it. This was a rumor. There is a important difference between fake news and a rumor.
    Only if you assume fake can only mean you said something you knew not to be true at the time you said it. And when was this a rumor? Was it someone actually saying they heard she was next in line or were they just guessing or giving their opinion which then turned into a rumor.
  • Reply 13 of 52
    Criticising FakeNews is a technique to draw the attention from NoNews at all.
    "We are doing our best" is an unacceptable stoplap when expectations must be handled in a senseful and responsive manner.
    Of course Tim knows the stock levels at 3 nov and could handle the iPhone X ordering process to minimize confusion by 
    1. Publicize stock levels at distribution points
    2. Activate a reservation system accordingly

    Now they're just avoiding the subject  altogether and prioritize flimsy talk about themselves. That egoism of the highest order is so typical for these people  that it hardly makes a difference who will succeed the other 
    edited October 2017
  • Reply 14 of 52
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    78Bandit said:

    Apple needs to be grooming a talented engineer with great design skills to be the next CEO.
    CEOs need to know how to run a business, not engineer and design. Jobs was a visionary, not a coder, not an engineer, and not a designer. He had Woz first and then Ive. Tim Cook is doing a great job. And by the way, try thinking for your self instead of parroting the troll army talking points about innovation, Cook being a supply chain guy, and Jobs being dead. Those memes have been making the rounds ever since Cook took over and they don’t hold water.
    tmaySolipotatoleeksoupStrangeDaysJWSCpscooter63calimuthuk_vanalingamRayz2016watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 52
    I don't like Tim Cook because of his politics. I look forward to his successor.
    Bacillus3
  • Reply 16 of 52
    flaneur said:
    78Bandit said:
    Wow, kiss Apple good-bye if it does turn out to be true.  Apple has already lost a lot of its innovative spirit with the death of Steve Jobs.  Tim Cook is a great supply chain guy but is having difficulty doing much more than polishing the iPhone line as much as possible.  To even suggest that a marketing executive whose experience is primarily in fashion goods would be an appropriate leader for one of the greatest technological companies in the world is ludicrous.

    Apple would do well to take a note from Microsoft.  Steve Balmer did his best to ruin it because he simply didn't have the technical ability to see where the company needed to be in five-to-ten years.  Now they've finally got someone back in the big chair who has degrees in electrical engineering and computer science as well as an MBA.  You need to be a high-level user of your company's products to be able to predict where the future lies.  Nadella is doing a lot to turn Microsoft around.

    Apple needs to be grooming a talented engineer with great design skills to be the next CEO.
    Cook's various remarks on Augmented Reality alone refute your simplistic view. You are thinking like a typical left-brained Microsoftie.

    Jobs left behind a design and vision PROCESS, an entire system of innovation that's basically centered on Ive-and-company's labs. (Even Ive's innovation and design strategies are distributed across the process/system.)

    You can't see this working for another reason besides your hemispheric blindness to the big picture — the coming AR revolution depends on wearable screen technologies that aren't up to Apple's standards yet. Pay attention to micro LED development, along with the usual chip miniaturization from Apple. Cook knows exactly he's doing, and he has many visionary hardware people in his retinue.
    Personal attacks aside, I stick by my belief that a company like Apple needs a visionary at the top, not a manager of processes implemented by a person who has been dead for years, and certainly not a fashion marketing expert.  Apple needs a leader who is passionate about technology advancements and has a strong desire to make great, innovative products for as many people as possible.  If Tim Cook is that person he hides it well.  His focus seems to be on revenue growth, manufacturing efficiency, and social issues while he lets others in the company focus on product development.  There certainly are "many visionary hardware people in his retinue" and it is one of them that needs to be groomed to be the next CEO.
  • Reply 17 of 52
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    maestro64 said:
    My only concern about who ever replaces Tim, the board should not pick someone to appease some social pressure or PC Police. They need to pick the right person not just any person. In the end it going to be had to find the right person. Steve picked Tim, but the board will pick the next person and too many on that board have social agendas they trying to drive forward and will use Apple success to drive those agendas.
    Guess what? In the dystopia we currently reside in attention to social pressures and PC are important things to be aware of for any CEO. In a dysfunctional society where “trigger alerts”, “safe spaces”, intolerance of ideas (on both sides), and win at any cost attitude, companies have no choice but the walk the tightrope where any misstep can cost $billions because of attacks from left or right ideologues. Remember what happened to Brendan Eich, the man who developed Firefox, was briefly CEO of Mozilla, and who was run out of town on a rail because he dared to think marriage was reserved for the union of a man and a woman. By the way, his new browser Brave is quite good but won’t get any press because of his personal thoughts.
    edited October 2017 randominternetperson
  • Reply 18 of 52
    6502 said:
    God help us if Angela is ever Apple CEO. I rather bring back Scully.
    😐 OK... I wrote a lengthy reply which the forum software inexplicably disappeared.... I’m not going to retype it.
    edited October 2017 Macsplosionwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 52
    78Bandit said:
    flaneur said:
    78Bandit said:
    Wow, kiss Apple good-bye if it does turn out to be true.  Apple has already lost a lot of its innovative spirit with the death of Steve Jobs.  Tim Cook is a great supply chain guy but is having difficulty doing much more than polishing the iPhone line as much as possible.  To even suggest that a marketing executive whose experience is primarily in fashion goods would be an appropriate leader for one of the greatest technological companies in the world is ludicrous.

    Apple would do well to take a note from Microsoft.  Steve Balmer did his best to ruin it because he simply didn't have the technical ability to see where the company needed to be in five-to-ten years.  Now they've finally got someone back in the big chair who has degrees in electrical engineering and computer science as well as an MBA.  You need to be a high-level user of your company's products to be able to predict where the future lies.  Nadella is doing a lot to turn Microsoft around.

    Apple needs to be grooming a talented engineer with great design skills to be the next CEO.
    Cook's various remarks on Augmented Reality alone refute your simplistic view. You are thinking like a typical left-brained Microsoftie.

    Jobs left behind a design and vision PROCESS, an entire system of innovation that's basically centered on Ive-and-company's labs. (Even Ive's innovation and design strategies are distributed across the process/system.)

    You can't see this working for another reason besides your hemispheric blindness to the big picture — the coming AR revolution depends on wearable screen technologies that aren't up to Apple's standards yet. Pay attention to micro LED development, along with the usual chip miniaturization from Apple. Cook knows exactly he's doing, and he has many visionary hardware people in his retinue.
    Personal attacks aside, I stick by my belief that a company like Apple needs a visionary at the top, not a manager of processes implemented by a person who has been dead for years, and certainly not a fashion marketing expert.  Apple needs a leader who is passionate about technology advancements and has a strong desire to make great, innovative products for as many people as possible.  If Tim Cook is that person he hides it well.  His focus seems to be on revenue growth, manufacturing efficiency, and social issues while he lets others in the company focus on product development.  There certainly are "many visionary hardware people in his retinue" and it is one of them that needs to be groomed to be the next CEO.
    Whatever happens, I see Cook moving further into politics and handing his post off to the next person... possibly in the next 4-5 years.
  • Reply 20 of 52
    6502 said:
    Like him or not, the man is a class act. Steve picked wisely.
    Being a class act is great if you are a PR rep maybe not so much for CEO. Some of the best CEOs were not considered class acts (Jobs, Gates, Ballmer, Dell)


    I don't think many people consider Ballmer any better than "adequate" or maybe "good" CEO.  "Some of the best" is a huge stretch,

    BTW it's also fake news that I am being groomed to be Ahrendts's successor.  Just wanted to clear that up.

    StrangeDayspscooter63watto_cobra
This discussion has been closed.