Product decisions at Apple: Committee of three instead of a grand chairman
It is well known that Tim Cook is not a "product person". In day-to-day business, he is said to leave decisions on new hardware and software to three people.
Apple CEO Tim Cook: Wears the hat, but delegates product issues, according to a report.
(Image: Screenshot Apple.com)
Before Steve Jobs died in 2011, the hierarchy at Apple was clear: the Apple co-founder was the top “editor-in-chief” who evaluated and criticized the ideas of his hand-picked employees and ultimately made the most important product decisions. Under Jobs' successor Tim Cook, however, things seem to be different: it is well known that he is not a “product person”, but is particularly focused on the business and production details. Without Cook, for example, Apple would never have succeeded in producing and selling such large numbers of iPhones. But who decides which new hardware and software comes out of Apple? The usually well-informed Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman ventures an interesting hypothesis in his newsletter on the weekend: according to his sources, a committee of three at Apple now decides.
Business is going well
Apple has not had a single decision-maker since the Steve Jobs days. When it comes to approving new products, the critical managers include a total of three people: Marketing boss Greg “Joz” Joswiak, head of hardware John Ternus and head of software Craig Federighi. Despite this triumvirate, Apple is ultimately led by Tim Cook and his Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams.
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However, Cook and Williams are inclined, according to the strong opinion within Apple, to hand over product decisions, i.e., what is ultimately given to customers, to Joswiak, Ternus and Federighi. Apple has by no means done badly with this: turnover and profits are significantly higher than in the days of Steve Jobs. However, there is repeated criticism that Apple reacts comparatively slowly to trends. These include foldable devices, a possible touchscreen Mac and the company's AI approaches, aka Apple Intelligence, which have so far been only moderately convincing.
The question of Cook's successor
It remains unclear who Cook's successor will be if he does not wish to remain CEO any longer. Cook will turn 65 in November, which is also the retirement age in the USA. Meanwhile, there have been rumors that the relatively young John Ternus (born in 1975) might be considered as Cook's successor.
Most recently, software boss Federighi was given more power again. He is said to have taken over parts of the AI team from Head of Machine Learning John Giannandrea in the context of the still unresolved crisis surrounding the Siri voice assistant. However, at 56, the charismatic Federighi is no longer young – Ternus would be the longer-term solution as the new Apple CEO.
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