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In a long-anticipated move, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced on Tuesday, April 21, that he will be stepping down from the top job after nearly 15 years at the helm – passing the baton to John Ternus, the tech giant’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, effective September 2026.
However, Cook will stick around as executive chairman, and is expected to continue shaping the iPhone-maker’s broader strategy. Stating that Ternus was the perfect person for the job, Cook wrote in an open letter addressed to the Apple community: “This company will reach such incredible heights under his leadership, and you will feel his impact in every bit of delight and discovery that grows out of the products and services to come. I can’t wait for you to get to know him like I do.”
“This is not goodbye. But at this moment of transition, I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you. Not on behalf of the company, this time, though there is a wellspring of gratitude for you that overflows inside our walls. But simply on behalf of me. Tim,” he added.
“I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in the years to come, and I am so happy to know that the most talented people on earth are here at Apple, determined to be part of something bigger than any one of us,” Ternus, Cook’s successor as CEO, said in a statement.
Tim Cook replaced Apple co-founder Steve Jobs shortly before the latter’s death in 2011. Since then, Apple has come to define the modern tech company with a vast global supply chain spanning several countries such as India, China, and Brazil alongside a retail network that reaches customers across five continents.
While Jobs surely set the stage for Apple with the rollout of iconic devices such as the iPhone and Macbook, Cook is widely credited with turning those products into well-oiled cash engines. During his tenure, Apple’s annual profit quadrupled to more than $110 billion, while its value ballooned more than tenfold to $4 trillion, according to a report by The New York Times.
Cook’s announcement on Tuesday drew swift reactions from tech executives, investors, market observers, and journalists, with many of them casting the transition as the close of a defining chapter for Apple while turning focus to what lies ahead for John Ternus, who is inheriting a company whose iPhone-led top line has grown 3.4 per cent on average per year since 2022, and tackling a perception of lagging in fast-growing categories such as smart glasses and artificial intelligence.
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Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s former chief financial officer (CFO), said, “He [Cook] stepped into the world’s biggest shoes — the biggest shoes that anybody on the planet has ever had to step into — and he’s done an amazing job.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “Tim Cook is a legend. I am very thankful for everything he has done and I am very thankful for Apple.”
“Tim Cook did an amazing job. And I’m not surprised that the initial reaction is for the stock to be a little bit lower. But he will be executive chairman. I imagine he’ll still be part of the larger strategy of the company. He has been an incredibly successful CEO coming into a situation that you thought would be hard to replace the person before. I hate to see him leave the CEO spot, as an investor,” Rick Meckler, Partner, Cherry Lane Investment, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“He would never leave if the numbers were going to be bad, so I think that that’s the important thing. They’re about to report numbers, and you know they’re going to be good. You know the guidance is going to be positive. And you know we’re going to start hearing more about how they are going to use artificial intelligence to improve their products,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist, B.Riley Wealth Management, said.
“He’s been a transformational Apple CEO that’s always had a steady hand at the wheel. I think that will be his legacy. He had massive shoes to step into, and he was the right person for the job. That’s the way he’ll be remembered,” Hogan added.
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Also Read | Apple turns to hardware veteran Ternus as CEO to succeed Cook in AI age
“The company has done very well. And you know, its stock price, the value of the company, have increased dramatically. A lot of that is being in the right place at the right time, but I think they’ve made the right moves, and I think they’ve grown their user base. Earnings are upcoming, so he probably wanted to get it out there, so it didn’t become an issue in the earnings,” Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist, Ingalls & Snyder, was quoted as saying.
“This transition shouldn’t come as a shock, as Cook is at retirement age and Ternus has long been rumored as the successor. Cook staying on as CEO through September before continuing as executive chairman should provide some degree of reassurance to investors even as markets react negatively to the near-term uncertainty,” Jacob Bourne, analyst at Emarketer, was quoted as saying.
“Cook successfully steered Apple through multiple periods of turbulence, and handing the reins over during another turbulent moment, which includes supply chain disruptions, tariffs and the AI race, is notable timing, though a fresh CEO also brings the opportunity for fresh solutions. Ternus’ hardware engineering background signals that Apple’s commitment to consumer hardware isn’t going anywhere, even as the company works to close the gap on AI,” Bourne added.
Also Read | The Apple story: Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and the secrets behind the iconic brand
On John Ternus taking the reins at Apple, Gil Luria, managing director of D.A. Davidson & Co., said the promotion signals that the company may focus more heavily on new hardware such as folding phones, smart glasses, virtual reality devices and AI-powered products.
“I expect his biggest challenge and efforts will be focused on getting a better AI story and offering together that relies more on Apple’s own capabilities and less on third parties,” Bob O’Donnell, head of tech consulting firm TECHnalysis Research, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
