In Tim Cook’s first year, he’s still in Steve Jobs’ shadow

Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook. (AP)

Today marks the first anniversary of Tim Cook’s assuming the reins of power at Apple. On Aug. 24, 2011, Steve Jobs stepped down from the technology company he co-founded, and less than two months later he died, the victim of pancreatic cancer.

Predictably, pundits in the tech press wondered whether Cook could sustain Apple’s success over time. That was a valid question, given Jobs’ tendency to micromanage the company from product designs to its well-honed image.

But in lengthy analyses of Cook’s first year from CNet and the San Jose Mercury News, the verdict seems to be: So far, so good.

Indeed, just going by the numbers, Cook has knocked it out of the park. Apple’s stock closed Thursday at more than $662 a share, and if you don’t account for inflation, Apple is now the most valuable company of all time. The company that held the previous record: 1999-era Microsoft.

Apple’s products continue to sell at a ferocious pace. The best example: Apple’s iPhone business alone is worth more than all of Microsoft now.

But the CNet piece by Josh Lowensohn notes that Cook’s Apple is still riding on the momentum of products and strategies honed in the Jobs era. Lowensohn cites a blog post by Forrester CEO George Colony that likened Apple to Sony at its peak and gives the company 24 to 48 months to prosper under the momentum established by Jobs before it begins to falter.

Lowensohn then points out missteps that have marred Cook’s early tenure:

One of those was the hiring of John Browett to replace Ron Johnson as Apple’s retail chief. Just a few months after starting, Browett — previously the chief executive at UK electronics retailer Dixons — attempted to rejigger the staffing at some of Apple’s retail stores earlier this year, resulting in widespread rumors of cut hours and even layoffs. Apple responded earlier this month by saying it was trying out a new staffing formula and that it had since reverted to the previous system.

Apple’s advertising, an area where Jobs was famously hands-on, has also come in for criticism. First, there was the use of celebrities in ads for the iPhone 4S, Apple’s latest smartphone. After years of ad campaigns where the products and features were the centerpiece, some believed celebrity endorsements made the ads feel generic. That was compounded by criticism of a series featuring a fictional Apple retail store Genius helping seemingly bumbling consumers with their tech problems. Apple quietly pulled those ads from the Internet earlier this week.

And, of course, there was the controversy surrounding working conditions at plants in China run by Foxconn, which makes Apple products as well as those of other major electronics vendors. Cook made a high-profile trip to one plant and has made improving the situation there a priority.

Patrick May, in the Mercury News analysis, says Cook’s biggest test to date could come next month, when Apple is rumored to launch the next version of the iPhone and, maybe, a smaller iPad model. Part of that challenge will be to meet demand for those products, particularly the next iPhone.

While Jobs may have created the iPhone, it is Tim Cook who must figure out how to manufacture and move more and more Apple products to an exploding number of customers around the world.

To be sure, thanks to the company’s vaunted product pipeline, which should ensure a bounty of cool gadgets for at least the next several years, it may be five years or so before it becomes clear whether Apple can continue to innovate under Cook’s leadership. Still, next month’s expected launch of the iPhone 5, says ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall, could be Cook’s next big at-bat.

“This is the first mega-launch under his watch, and with the iPhone generating 65 percent of Apple’s gross profits, there’s a lot riding on it,” Marshall says, underscoring the importance of the supply chain in moving those phones. “But Tim’s been responsible in the past for operations, and if anyone can do it, he can.”

Cook’s clearly a capable and strong CEO, but even if he succeeds on his own over time, the shadow of Steve Jobs will loom over him. That’s evident in a quote that finishes the Mercury News piece, in which even Apple’s potential longevity is credited to Jobs.

But now, after a full year in charge, Cook clearly has come into his own and the spotlight is on him. Still, Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer says Apple’s CEO is where he is because of the guy who believed in him back in 1998, the same guy now standing forever offstage in the shadows.

“I always felt Steve Jobs’ most under-appreciated skill late in life was to build an organization that would sustain itself even after he was gone,” Pfeffer says. “He’s picked a good guy to run things, and I think Apple has been very well built to last.”

It may be Tim Cook’s company now, but it will always be Steve Jobs’ Apple.