Apple well-positioned to race forward while Jobs sidelined
Customers won't stop buying products from fundamentally sound Apple just because its luminary is taking a breather on the sidelines, investment bank Piper Jaffray argues in a new report issued Wednesday evening.
"We believe that during Jobs' absence, Apple's sales will be unaffected," analyst Gene Munster told clients in a memo reacting to this afternoon's announcement that Jobs has elected to take a medical leave of absence from his day-to-day leadership role at the Cupertino-based company through June.
"More importantly, we believe the pace of innovation will remain solid, driven by key product-minded executives," he continued.* "From an operational perspective, we expect [chief operating officer Tim] Cook to maintain the same standard of excellence that he demands as COO."
Tim Cook*was hired away from Compaq by Steve Jobs in March 1998.* For one month, Cook filled in as CEO in 2004 while Apple co-founder Jobs underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. *As chief operating officer, Cook is responsible for Apple's worldwide sales and operations, including supply chain management as well as service and support. *In this YouTube clip, Cook can be seen talking about the Mac product lineup at last October's notebook*event.
Munster believes that, regardless of Steve Jobs' health, investors should start thinking about what Apple would look like under the "capable" Cook.
"While the iconic leadership of Steve Jobs cannot be fully replaced, we believe his core attributes as a CEO, operationally and with products, can be replicated," Munster wrote.* "Cook provides the operational expertise for the company, which would serve him well as Apple's CEO."
Apple industrial design chief Jonathan Ive*and several software developers have played a "key role" in designing the "innovative technology" that has been driving Apple sales recently, Munster noted.* "Together, we believe that Cook and the other leaders at Apple can effectively replicate the elements of Steve Jobs' leadership that have been critical to his success as CEO."
The face of Apple COO and interim CEO Tim Cook
According to Munster, Jobs himself has put a lot of thought into building a talented*executive team*capable of leading the company forward.
"The company is led largely by [Cook], chief financial officer*Peter Oppenheimer, and ten Senior Vice Presidents who share a collective track record of consistently outpacing their competitors in terms of hardware and software innovation coupled with robust product marketing and financial discipline," he wrote.
Munster maintains both his Buy rating on shares of AAPL and his price target of $235.
"We believe that during Jobs' absence, Apple's sales will be unaffected," analyst Gene Munster told clients in a memo reacting to this afternoon's announcement that Jobs has elected to take a medical leave of absence from his day-to-day leadership role at the Cupertino-based company through June.
"More importantly, we believe the pace of innovation will remain solid, driven by key product-minded executives," he continued.* "From an operational perspective, we expect [chief operating officer Tim] Cook to maintain the same standard of excellence that he demands as COO."
Tim Cook*was hired away from Compaq by Steve Jobs in March 1998.* For one month, Cook filled in as CEO in 2004 while Apple co-founder Jobs underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. *As chief operating officer, Cook is responsible for Apple's worldwide sales and operations, including supply chain management as well as service and support. *In this YouTube clip, Cook can be seen talking about the Mac product lineup at last October's notebook*event.
Munster believes that, regardless of Steve Jobs' health, investors should start thinking about what Apple would look like under the "capable" Cook.
"While the iconic leadership of Steve Jobs cannot be fully replaced, we believe his core attributes as a CEO, operationally and with products, can be replicated," Munster wrote.* "Cook provides the operational expertise for the company, which would serve him well as Apple's CEO."
Apple industrial design chief Jonathan Ive*and several software developers have played a "key role" in designing the "innovative technology" that has been driving Apple sales recently, Munster noted.* "Together, we believe that Cook and the other leaders at Apple can effectively replicate the elements of Steve Jobs' leadership that have been critical to his success as CEO."
The face of Apple COO and interim CEO Tim Cook
According to Munster, Jobs himself has put a lot of thought into building a talented*executive team*capable of leading the company forward.
"The company is led largely by [Cook], chief financial officer*Peter Oppenheimer, and ten Senior Vice Presidents who share a collective track record of consistently outpacing their competitors in terms of hardware and software innovation coupled with robust product marketing and financial discipline," he wrote.
Munster maintains both his Buy rating on shares of AAPL and his price target of $235.
Comments
While there is someone who can do the industrial design...
While there is someone that can do the keynotes...
Who is there to tell them what products to produce? That is where Steve Jobs came in and made sure they did their jobs.
Hopefully I don't have to worry about it for a long time.
Two people who are familiar with Mr. Jobs?s current medical treatment said he was not suffering from a recurrence of cancer, but a condition that was preventing his body from absorbing food. Doctors have also advised him to cut down on stress, which may be making the problem worse, these people said.
The keynotes are totally unimportant (except for fanboys). The industrial design is mostly Jon Ives and his team. And so on for most other things.
From a NY Times article titled Apple?s Chief Taking a Medical Leave:
Two people who are familiar with Mr. Jobs?s current medical treatment said he was not suffering from a recurrence of cancer, but a condition that was preventing his body from absorbing food. Doctors have also advised him to cut down on stress, which may be making the problem worse, these people said.
It might not be cancer, but the two are totally unrelated? Anyway, it doesn't matter if cancer kills him, a complication or an unrelated disease. If he's taking 6 months off, its serious, even if it's a cold.
Customers won't stop buying products from fundamentally sound Apple just because its luminary is taking a breather on the sidelines, investment bank Piper Jaffray argues in a new report issued Wednesday evening.
Really? Glad we got that out of the way.
Now maybe analysts can ponder whether customers will stop buying products because Apple doesn't update them. I mean, 18 months. There isn't a bigger story happening right now.
This has nothing to do with the article but it freaked me out that there are Pystar google ads on Appleinsider...
I havent noticed those adverts. Bizarrely for me the main advert displayed on applinsider for the last week features a friend of mine whom I had an argument with only the week before.
I feel like I'm being stalked by him, my favorite website has his face plastered all over it, its a little weird.
iPods, iTunes, iMacs and iPhones are nothing short of revolutionary. We wish Steve the best.
- SkratchBoard.com
I'd be more weary about Apple's long term prospects, dipping into markets they really shouldn't. Even though such products would sell well in the beginning, too many investments will spread the companies brand too thin, and it only takes one bad product to be forgotten.
Umm... AppleTV, MobileMe. Is that two bad products?
Well, the big story is that the analysts are scrambling like crazy to prevent the stock from bombing even more this year.
Only the Anylyst's that own Apple's stock. The others will wait for it to Bottom and then downgrade it again then pick it up for a bargain at about $65.
Most are shorting it tonight and are going to make bank when they sell.
While there is someone the run the company financially and can follow through on what Steve Jobs has put into place...
While there is someone who can do the industrial design...
While there is someone that can do the keynotes...
Who is there to tell them what products to produce?
That, and the 'pain in the arse factor'. You know, the person willing to insist that something isn't good enough in the face of cost / science/ time. Willing to shelve a project because the product didn't meet the expected standard. Willing to lay down impossible targets and refuse compromise. 'Willing' is the wrong word - 'capable', perhaps, or 'driven'. It takes a special person with a huge amount of 'pain in the arse'-ness. Mixed with a large dose of arrogance, self confidence, and 'don't-give-a-shit-what-you-or-anybody-else-thinks', as well as intelligent market focus, and a highly developed degree of end-user insightfulness. I get a feeling that Jonathan Ive shares many of those qualities, but I don't know for sure.
Well, lets hope he is a better leader than he is a looker.
Hah - judging by your name, you're just jealous!
I am not saying things are bad for Apple, they clearly are not, but they are more "under seige" than they have been for quite some time.
I don't see how they are well positioned. Their computer hardware designs are starting to look stale, Microsoft is starting to make a comeback from Vista, Palm is making a comeback with the Pre. They have possibly missed the boat on Netbooks.
I am not saying things are bad for Apple, they clearly are not, but they are more "under seige" than they have been for quite some time.
I couldn't disagree more.
Microsoft is never coming back. They are retreating further and further with each passing year. They just gave up on the Zune. Windows Mobile is completely dead, now that Palm will stop making Treos. Office is not nearly as significant a product as it used to be, and will continue to decline as better alternatives continue to be noticed by companies. Windows 7 is Vista with slightly less crap in it.
Microsoft is the one that is not well-positioned. It has no apparent product to make up for the loss in Windows and Office sales over the next few years. Every other venture the company has tried is losing money. (Yes, that includes the X-Box.)
Palm shot itself in the foot a long time ago by taking so long to get the new OS out the door. They had to start selling Windows Mobile devices to survive, for crying out loud. Now, they finally produce a decent-looking OS, but it will fail. First, Palm no longer has many loyal customers. Second, the Pre copies the iPhone a great deal, but will cost more. Why pay more for a copycat when you can get the genuine article for less? Third, the iPhone has a giant consumer base already, and thousands of apps already selling. It's an ecosystem. Palm is jumping back into a race it started two years too late. Maybe, maybe they can kill Android, since the G1 is obviously getting no love. But Blackberry and the iPhone are ruling that market for a long time.
iPod still has no competition. iTunes has no competition. Amazon had plenty of time with no DRM to catch iTunes, and failed miserably. Now that iTunes has no DRM, Amazon stands almost no chance of taking market share from Apple.
The only place where Apple could screw up at this point is the Mac, but even Mac sales are doing better than ever.
And let's not forget the billions in cash Apple is sitting on, spending on R&D at a time when everyone else is struggling to keep profitable.
I don't know many companies that are better positioned than Apple at this point.
I don't see how they are well positioned. Their computer hardware designs are starting to look stale, Microsoft is starting to make a comeback from Vista, Palm is making a comeback with the Pre. They have possibly missed the boat on Netbooks.
I am not saying things are bad for Apple, they clearly are not, but they are more "under seige" than they have been for quite some time.
This the most ridiculous post iv ever read! hardware designs are looking stale??? the new macbooks that are the best looking notebooks out there. please show me where you have seen a better looking one. where is any evidence vista is making a come back?? and palm hasn't even sold a pre yet and when they do its not even GSM so all of sprints 30 customers world wide can own one. you clearly have no idea what your talking about.
Windows 7 is Vista with slightly less crap in it.
I downloaded the beta and I use it a good deal now. Aside from the daily BSOD, it's a very well-done OS and I actually think the bastard love-child of Dock and Taskbar (Dockbar?) works better than the OS X Dock for serious multitaskers. I'm a life-long Apple user, but Windows 7 is the first Windows that I feel is "good enough." Given the growing price differences between Macs and PCs, I won't be able to recommend Macs to people with the same enthusiasm I used to. And if current price trends continue (unless Apple does something great with 10.6 or 10.7), my next computer down the line may very well be a VAIO or a ThinkPad.
Palm shot itself in the foot a long time ago by taking so long to get the new OS out the door.
Gee, sounds kind of like Apple a decade ago... companies can turn around and Apple can choose to ignore them at its own peril.
The only place where Apple could screw up at this point is the Mac, but even Mac sales are doing better than ever.
And that's where Apple is screwing up the worst by refusing to make computers at prices the current recession market will bear. It's great that Apple can brag of huge "revenue share" but developers don't sit around and think "oh wow, their revenue share is huge," they think "how many computers are out there?" And it was hard enough to convince cash-strapped schools to buy $1299 Macs compared to $999 PCs, but when the PCs are $599 or even $499? Let's just say it's a tough sell for Apple Account Executives right now, who have spent so much time extolling the virtues of 1:1 educational computing (1:1 ratio for students and computers, ie computers for all) to try and tell their clients that 1 Mac is worth 2 Dells in a 1:1 environment. Yes, Mac sales are doing better than ever, but that sales momentum has been crushed along with the American economy.
And let's not forget the billions in cash Apple is sitting on, spending on R&D at a time when everyone else is struggling to keep profitable.
We could say the same things about Pan Am, AT&T Corp, Polaroid, Ford, GM, Chrysler once upon a time...things change for these companies, and precisely because of narrow-minded fat-and-happy thinking like this.
Hey I love Apple. I was an Apple Campus Rep in college, and an Apple summer intern. I'm typing this on a nice new unibody MacBook and I have the 2G and 3G iPhones. I'm not a hater. I'm criticizing Apple because I want them to do well, I need them to do well so they can keep making new products and features, attracting new developers into the Apple ecosystem, expanding the market and improving my digital life. Heck to a large extent I even love the ridiculous "screw you I'm awesome" showmanship of His Steveness.
But lately--I don't know why--Apple has gone too far. I certainly HOPE they have something great cooking in their labs, because right now their corporate intransigence has grown just as the gap between their products and their competitors has shrank (iPhone vs WinMo is a no-brainer, but iPhone vs Pre changes things. And OS X vs XP+Vista is another no-brainer, but Windows 7 has effectively closed the gap as far as most would-be Windows deserters are concerned). If this is the fault of Steve Jobs, then it is time for him to go anyway. Maybe get someone whose computer usage habits are a bit more 21st century, who would (for just one example) realize that a smartphone shipping without an IM app included is ludicrous.