As Apple releases its latest batch of devices and upgraded operating systems, we can look back at 10 years of leadership from CEO Tim Cook.
In 1998, Cook joined Apple from Compaq, of which he later said: “On that day in early 1998, I listened to my intuition, not the left side of my brain or for that matter even the people who knew me best... no more than five minutes into my initial interview with Steve [Jobs], I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and join Apple.”
Cook started his career at Apple in various executive positions, saving the company millions of dollars by restructuring its factories and warehouses. He also invested in long-term contracts with flash memory manufacturers, guaranteeing supply of parts vital to iPods, and later iPhones and iPads.
As then-CEO Steve Jobs’s health worsened from recurring pancreatic cancer, Jobs appointed Cook CEO on August 25, 2011 – Jobs would die six weeks later on October 5.
Since then, Apple has witnessed a meteoric rise in its revenue as Cook meticulously steers the company in a direction that critics say lacks the innovation of the Jobs era.
Naysayers decry Apple’s annual product launches as mere refreshers of older established technologies, rather than taking the ground-breaking risks that Jobs did when he launched devices like the iPod, iMac, iPhone, and iPad.
However, if you’re an investor in Apple, you won’t be complaining. In fiscal year 2021, Apple earned over a billion dollars in revenue every day.
Apple’s iPhone 14 and Watch Series 8 hit stores on September 16. Its new iOS 16 and watchOS 9 system upgrades were released on September 12.
