A New Era at Apple

Apple's new CEO John Ternus officially took the helm on Tuesday, succeeding Tim Cook after a 15-year tenure that saw the company's market value skyrocket to $4.6 trillion, driven largely by the iPhone's enormous popularity, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cook, who took over from co-founder Steve Jobs, is moving to the role of executive chairman, effective today, according to Bnn Bloomberg and ie.

Cook's leadership was marked by a deliberate departure from Jobs' product visionary style. Instead, he followed the advice Jobs gave him: "Never ask what I would do, just do the right thing," as both Bnn Bloomberg and ie noted. Cook ascended by making Apple's supply chain the envy of every manufacturer, an operations-first approach that brought cutting-edge products to the masses.

Under Cook, Apple's annual sales grew from $108 billion at the start of his tenure to $416 billion in the last fiscal year, while profit increased more than fourfold to $112 billion. The company's wearables business, including Apple Watch and AirPods, generated $35 billion in sales in fiscal 2025, according to Bnn Bloomberg and ie.

Cook's Legacy and Challenges

"Not only did Cook create his own path of operational and supply chain success but, he also created a 'values-driven' culture within Apple," said Christopher Brown, a financial adviser at Synovus Securities. "What followed was a consumer brand loyalty and dependency flywheel that generated trillions of dollars in revenue."

Despite these successes, critics have long accused Apple of losing its innovation edge during the Cook era, as Bnn Bloomberg reported. Notable missteps include the scrapped decade-long EV project in 2024, the botched launch of Apple Maps in 2012, and the Vision Pro headset, which debuted at $3,499 in 2023 and failed to produce strong sales.

The transition to Ternus comes at a pivotal time for Apple. Artificial intelligence has unleashed the greatest upheaval in the industry since the first iPhone in 2007, yet Apple has stumbled in delivering AI features promised nearly two years ago, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Ternus Steps Up

Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management, told Bnn Bloomberg and ie that AI is the single biggest challenge for Ternus. The new CEO, previously Apple's hardware chief, will be steering the company in the AI era.

Cook's new role as executive chairman involves guiding Apple's dealings with policymakers amid tense relations between the US and China, where many of its products are made, as reported by Bnn Bloomberg and ie. Apple is expanding manufacturing in India and Vietnam, and plans to make most US-bound iPhones in India by the end of 2026, according to Bnn Bloomberg and ie.

Bill Birmingham, managing director at REX Financial, said Cook elevated a broader leadership team and recast Apple as an institution, as cited in Bnn Bloomberg's reporting.

The leadership change caps one of the most consequential CEO tenures in corporate history, according to Bnn Bloomberg. Cook's approach turned the 2.5 billion installed iPhone user base into a recurring revenue machine, a business that has outpaced hardware growth in recent years.