Tim Cook Apple’s Savior or downfall?

Tim Cool assumed Apple’s top position a year ago and based on that news the stock price dropped, as of today it is not up more than 44 percent from where it was. On the surface this look great and Apple appears to be driving towards long term success. However (and there is always a however), product development takes more than a year at most companies and Apple is no exception. The products that are driving Apple are still the brain child of Steve Jobs. The real question is where will Apple be next year.

Back in April, Forrester CEO George Colony, wrote in his blog post that Apple will decline in the post Steve Jobs era. Colony also believes that Apple lost quite a bit when Steve Jobs left, “When Steve Jobs departed, he took three things with him: 1) singular charismatic leadership that bound the company together and elicited extraordinary performance from its people; 2) the ability to take big risks, and 3) an unparalleled ability to envision and design products.”

There is also heavy criticism regarding the advertising efforts that Apple is moving forward with, the addition of celebrities versus the traditional imagery that Apple products used to invoke seems to have hit a discord with potential buyers. While not scientific, the belief is that Apple is now becoming just one of the products versus a way to express your own identity and all of their advertising is beginning to lean towards that shift.
In addition, Apple and Samsung are embattled in a patent case around Samsung’s HTC smartphone. The outcome will have a substantial impact on both companies and depending on the verdict may highlight Cook’s legacy one way or the other.

Finally, Apple is also dealing with several issues around their retail stores. First reported by Gizmodo, Apple’s Dallas flagship store has been doing some pretty horrible things to customers including erasing data and breaking components that worked when they were brought in. The story was also further confirmed by 9TO5Mac.

Where will Apple be in 12 months from now? Well if I knew that I would play the stock market, but what I can say is that without continual innovation and strong leadership, Apple will not be the same company it was two years ago.

Frank Toscano is a 15+ year specialist in cloud based services focusing on Product Management, Marketing and Security within the Cloud. He has worked for EasyLink Services and Premiere Global Services in a global role providing hosted services to Fortune 1000 clients. He is currently seeking employment with a cloud based provider in a senior level Product/Marketing role.