Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Steve Jobs, Apple, Ask TUAW
Let's face it: Steve will have to step down sooner or later, too
With Gates' bombshell announcement last week that he will be stepping down from his full-time role at Microsoft in 2008 to spend more time with his Gates and Melinda Foundation charity org, I finally came to wonder: how much longer does Steve have at Apple? Both companies were started around the same time and have helped shape the industry as we see it today. That has to be exhausting work, especially for someone like Jobs whose design and management obsessions are now the stuff of legends. Steve already stepped down from his other company, Pixar, so he could spend more time at Apple - but I'm wondering how long that's going to last, and what it means for Apple's future.Plenty of articles are analyzing the impact of Gates leaving Microsoft, as it's a slightly different situation. Bill is their Senior Software Architect, not the CEO - that's Ballmer, and he'll apparently be staying on and doing the same, shall we say, 'bang-up job' he's been doing since he took that throne. But Steve Jobs is Apple's CEO, and famous for the amount of control he exacts over bringing
Honestly, I don't know, and since I am but a lowly blogger, I'll leave it up to those six-figure analysts who 'are people who know people' to pen those pieces. But before those analysts start earning their keep, TUAW wants to hear your thoughts, dear readers: what do you think it will mean for the future of Apple and their products when Steve needs to call it a day?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jeremy Lommori said 11:12AM on 6-19-2006
I don't think Jobs will just step down out altogether in one swift move. I heard that Gates is "stepping down full time" but will still be active in Microsoft's future, just not as much as now. Yes, Jobs' influence on Apple's product development and direction is huge, however, he is not the only visionary in that corporation. His incredibly talleted support/design team is right their by his side dreaming up the next amazing iPod or media center computer. When Jobs finally leaves, I believe it will be a slow withdrawl, so his time at Apple is less and less, but his ideas are still known. This will give the design team time to see who the new lead product visionary will be and allow Apple a smooth and continous transition.
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andy said 11:12AM on 6-19-2006
Ii think steves work is done in a sense that he pup the company back on track, and gave it direction, they know there place and they know how to make money and not compramise, obviously he is still a great assset but the framework of the company is now in place!
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Tyler said 11:29AM on 6-19-2006
Steve Jobs actually have several clones in line to take his place at Apple.
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Tyler said 11:30AM on 6-19-2006
HAS!
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Dean said 11:33AM on 6-19-2006
Can you imagine how far the stock will drop :| ...shoot
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JT said 11:37AM on 6-19-2006
IMHO the main philosophy of Jobs/Apple can be quite easily summarised in terms of simplicity, design, perfectionism, etc. I guess in 5 to 10 years, the function will be taken by an Apple loyalist (possibly the COO who took over from Jobs while he was bein treated last year).
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Jay Tei said 11:41AM on 6-19-2006
I think this post is a complete waste of time.
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Jordan said 11:41AM on 6-19-2006
What do you mean? He's not going to step down he's God.
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Peter Reali said 11:48AM on 6-19-2006
I think Jobs would first transition out of the CEO role much like Gates did. He's got a lot riding on Apple in terms of his personal wealth, and any good analyst will tell you that a smooth transition is key to ensuring shareholder wealth stays put. His 10 million shares of restricted stock hasn't 100% vested yet, so he's going to be there for a little longer.
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ted said 11:49AM on 6-19-2006
I agree that the people in place at Apple could undoubtedly keep turning out great products after Jobs eventually leaves. It's hard to imagine them suddenly making ugly computers even without Jobs at the helm. But I do worry about what the larger direction of the company will be at that point.
I have always felt that the power of Jobs' vision for Apple has to do with his refusal to compromise his ideals just for the sake of selling more product. I know some people may disagree with me, but I believe that despite his vast ambition, Jobs has never sacrificed his idealistic vision of Apple simply to increase the company's market share. But with him gone, the company might be vulnerable to leadership that will make such a compromise.
I think that the next few years for Apple under Jobs' leadership will tell us a lot. The huge appeal of iPods, the ability of Macs to run Windows, the ever-expanding number of Apple retail stores -- is Jobs gearing up for an all-out assault on the market? Our identities as Mac users will be forever changed if such a strategy is successful.
If that is indeed his vision for Apple -- one of pursuing a drastically increased market share for Macs -- then I believe that his departure from Apple will have less impact. If this doesn't happen, then I would fear that it would when he ultimately leaves.
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John from Buffalo said 12:05PM on 6-19-2006
Based on a recent story that came out from /. and his "zen" packing in the subcontinent of India, I bet he'll be 90 when he steps down.
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Gerald Buckley said 12:11PM on 6-19-2006
I blogged about this very thing a month or so ago. I think J. Ive has been promoted to SVP for the inevitable day when Mr. J does step down. He's the next logical successor to the empire IMHO. It's either that or that marketing guy... ICK!
When the whole cancer thing came out about Mr. J... they got to thinking much more VERY seriously about succession planning and started high grading the internal talent.
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alex said 12:16PM on 6-19-2006
If steve really does step down, he would definitely pick someone like him when he was starting the company.... the desire to deliver the best products and to never give up on that. That is what is causing Microsofts downfall, theyre cutting feature after feature out of vista and not keeping the promises they made and delivering an OS that couldnt even compete with OS 9 it's so horrible. Microsoft will never deliver a product that is the best it could be, ever!
Lets see... Windows XP: 2002
Windows Vista: 2007
NeXTStep (1st ever edition of Mac OS 10): September 1989
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alex said 12:20PM on 6-19-2006
And to be fair... Windows NT: July 1993
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Jonathan said 12:38PM on 6-19-2006
What Apple needs is a charismatic leader more than anything - someone who isn't just good at managing businesses but also has a vision of his own or at least knows how to keep the vision alive.
My first thought is that Phil Schiller would be a good candidate because of his presentation skills, but I don't know if he's that much younger than Jobs. It's a shame Jonathan Ive isn't known as a public speaker. He's had a large part in the design direction of Apple and could likely inspire some great hardware.
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Dave said 1:03PM on 6-19-2006
What Steve truly offers is leadership. Yes, he's a visionary, but what he brings to the table is his ability to say, "we're doing precisely x and we're going to do it well." And then he takes that to the market and leads the industry as well.
There's no question that Apple has a collection of exceptional talents, all of whom are among the best in the world at what they do - manufacturing, design, marketing, etc. My hope is that whoever steps up when Steve steps aside can offer the same leadership and outright salesmanship that separates Steve from other notable silicon valley executives.
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Eric Carroll said 1:07PM on 6-19-2006
I think Steve did help save this company, but that the end of the day, we've got to wonder how many products or design elements didn't make it out of the R&D Labs due to the same reasons. Maybe being free of Steve's control will allow Apple to break into markets that they've stayed out of so far, or allow them back into some markets (I hear the lack of a 'no camera' option on all the new machines has cost Apple a few government and otherwise security conscious contracts). Again, I think the man is quite the visionary and has been on a pretty amazing streak of being able to predict what the public is going to be lusting for next. Really though, it'll just come down to who is next. If the next person has an equally accurate sense of what the public feels it needs, even if this persons ideas are different, we won't notice it much, it'll just be Apple 'continuing to change, set the precedent for the rest of the industry'. And again, as some above have mentioned, Steve, though amazing, is the not the sole person responsible for each and every product Apple releases, as long as the guy like Ives are still around and willing to work with Steve's replacement, I would hope we won't notice all that much of a difference. Not to wrap-up with a non-answer, but honestly, the only way to know if Steve leaving will destroy the company's vision, or allow it to flourish in markets Steve ignored, or progress in the same fashion it has been since he came back is to wait and see...
Seeing Steve leave for good will be sad, the end of an era, but I won't dump my shares in Apple or assume the worst when he does.
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aj said 1:09PM on 6-19-2006
I'm thinking that a successor would have to come from outside Apple. There's no-one currently on the board that could take over, really. The skillsets that Jobs has - attention to detail, charisma, dealmaking, grand strategic vision, and understanding the value-add of leveraging platforms as a driver to selling boxes - is more typical of the video game industry or Hollywood than Silicon Valley per se...someone like J. Allard, teamed up with Ive, might be just the ticket.
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Eric Carroll said 1:16PM on 6-19-2006
Also, I think Ted's post eloquently states my fear, that being that Apple is gearing up for, or will eventually launch a market share increasing barrage. With Steve or without, with each tenth of a percent market share we gain means more viruses and so on... A lot of the 'advantages' we Mac users enjoy are almost directly the result of being less that 5% of the global market share, and Apple having such tight control over their products... If Steve decides his legacy will be quadrupling Apple's Market share, or Apple aims for that and succeeds after he leaves, then I fear things could get... well, boring.
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jk said 1:54PM on 6-19-2006
I have this feeling that Steve won't leave until they wheel him out feet-first.
In any case, it's hard to imagine him doing any kind of real phased departure from Apple. His control-freak nature probably wouldn't permit him to take a back seat to anyone while he had any kind of formal duties at Apple.
That said, he's done a lot for Apple and I hope he stays for many more years.
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