Tim Cook: Will the Apple boss get more power despite problems?

Despite the accumulating problems in a number of areas that have plagued Apple for some time, the company's Board of Directors continues to stand firmly behind CEO Tim Cook, who has led Apple since 2011. One of the reasons may be that the manager, who is regarded as a supply chain expert, has managed to significantly increase Apple's turnover and profits – and the company's value has also risen sharply, by a good 1500 percent since he took office.

Cook could become Chairman of Apple

According to a Bloomberg report from the weekend, Apple no longer has an explicit successor candidate. This is because Cook's right-hand man, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, has now declared his intention to retire by the end of the year. However, Cook himself has no plans to do so, although at 64 he is a good three years older than Williams. According to Bloomberg, the Supervisory Board does not feel it has to change anything. It is made up of "Cook loyalists" who let him steer the business largely as he wants.

It is even possible that Cook's power will increase: Board-of-Directors Chairman Arthur Levinson has long since passed the usual retirement age for supervisory board members at Apple and could be replaced by Cook himself. This is not unusual in the US IT industry: Satya Nadella from Microsoft, for example, is not only CEO but also Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Steve Jobs was also Chairman at Apple for a while when he handed over the CEO position to John Sculley. However, this ended with Jobs being sacked.

Problem complexes at Apple: big, but solvable

Apple's Board of Directors apparently believes that only Cook can succeed in solving the current problems at Apple, even if he himself is partly responsible for them. There is regulatory pressure on the App Store and the iOS and iPadOS platforms in numerous countries around the world. There is a threat of high fines and interference in the company's technology by the EU, for example. Apple continues to lag its major competitors when it comes to artificial intelligence, even though the iPhone manufacturer always emphasizes that it is not planning a ChatGPT competitor, but is instead focusing on a holistic approach to AI. The problem: what Apple Intelligence currently delivers is significantly behind what OpenAI, Google or Anthropic deliver.

After all, Apple has difficulties with the implementation of new projects and products. Apple has been preparing Foldables for many years now, but they will probably not arrive until next year. Users also have to wait for real augmented reality glasses, while the Vision Pro is technically impressive but totally overpriced. Even standard products such as the Mac have been delayed: Most recently, it was said that there would be no updates to the computer line this year. After all, Cook is often accused of not having initiated a new product category since the Apple Watch and Vision Pro. In fact, Apple's development cycles have felt significantly longer, with products such as the iPhone being brought to market much faster than today's hardware.

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