Apple hasn’t had a smooth sailing this year, with the company losing over $630 billion in market value as frustration over its long-delayed AI features grows. Amid this, some analysts have started calling for the Cupertino-based tech giant to consider replacing its CEO.
A Bloomberg report cited analysts at LightShed Partners who said Apple should consider replacing Tim Cook at the helm due to the company’s recent struggles with artificial intelligence.
“Apple now needs a product-focused CEO, not one centred on logistics,” analysts Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone wrote in a note to clients.
The analysts’ comments come at a time when Apple has announced that its Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams will step down this month, to be replaced by Sabih Khan. Williams was previously seen as a potential successor to Cook, but now John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, is reportedly viewed as the most likely candidate.
Meanwhile, Meta is reportedly attempting to poach Williams by offering him a package worth over $200 million to lure him away from the iPhone maker.
“Tim Cook was the right CEO at the time of his appointment and unquestionably has done a great job,” Piecyk and Galone added. However, they noted that in the wake of Williams’ departure, “it’s time for more disruptive change, not less.”
Notably, Apple shares have surged over 1,400% since Cook was appointed CEO in 2011, compared to a 430% rise in the S&P 500 during the same period.
However, with artificial intelligence emerging as a major pain point for Apple, questions are growing over whether the company will be able to compete in a landscape increasingly dominated by the likes of Google and OpenAI. There have also been calls for Apple to make a high-profile acquisition of an AI startup to align its AI strategy. Apple has never made an acquisition worth more than $3 billion, but acquiring an AI startup would likely require a much larger investment.
For comparison, Meta recently acquired a 48% stake in AI platform Scale AI for $14.8 billion, while Google acquired cybersecurity startup Wiz last month for $32 billion.
