02-23-2011, 11:34 AM

Survey finds consumers believe Apple is bigger than its CEO, Steve Jobs
AppleInsider | Survey finds consumers believe Apple is bigger than its CEO, Steve Jobs

If Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs were to leave Apple, it would not have a material impact on customers' buying intentions, a new survey has found.

02-23-2011, 12:30 PM

It wouldn't change my buying habits, really. If Apple produces great products, then it doesn't particularly matter too much to me who is at the top of the company! If they produce products which I don't want or need, then I won't buy them. Simple as that, for me at least. And seems to be that way for 93% of the people surveyed.

02-23-2011, 12:45 PM

Me thinks that these "consumers" don't know anything about Apple's history, both with and without Job's being behind the wheel. If they did, the results would be quite different IMO. I mean really, do raw materials alone constitute the potential they possess or is it the ideas put forth by men, which shape those materials, that have more to do with the final product ?

If this weren't the case, then Microsoft should be able to produce products which are just as good or if not better. And this isn't me being a fanboi.. I used to use Windows, most of you know that.. This is me saying "here's why I switched to using OS X". But the fact is, that the likes of Ballmer just don't add up to much of anything (unless you like dealing with negative integers) in this regard.

Who knows what ideas or decisions the next CEO of Apple is going to bring to the table ? Jobs' has paved a road for Apple which will hopefully stay true to the current model for a long time to come. That means replacing him with someone who has the same zeal, business sense and frankly.. balls to set the wheels in motion, for whatever their imagination sees as being innovative or inventive.

Doug

02-23-2011, 01:28 PM

Who knows what ideas or decisions the next CEO of Apple is going to bring to the table ? Jobs' has paved a road for Apple which will hopefully stay true to the current model for a long time to come. That means replacing him with someone who has the same zeal, business sense and frankly.. balls to set the wheels in motion, for whatever their imagination sees as being innovative or inventive.

We've already seen what happened to Apple when Jobs was replaced by the CEO of Pepsi.

I fully agree. If Jobs ever retires or is too sick to continue on, someone with his zeal and business sense (as you stated) needs to take the reigns.

02-23-2011, 02:27 PM

I wonder if Jonathan Ive can take the CEO position? After all, he is the chief mastermind behind their designs.

02-23-2011, 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by idrinorbarsaku

I wonder if Jonathan Ive can take the CEO position? After all, he is the chief mastermind behind their designs.

That's the exact reason why I don't want him CEO. He needs to spend 100% of his time being the design genius he is. And not waste his time doing CEO stuff. Just put Ive in a room and give him anything at all he wants. And he'll be happy.

My opinion would be Cook as temporary CEO based on experience and supply chain know how. And in the longer term I'd like the CEO job moved to Forstall. He has age on his side + he is pretty good at the public event things like keynotes. Sure you'll need a Cook like person for supply management + Schiller like person and Co to make sure Apple's books keep the year over year growth trend happening. But for the youth, spark and presence I can really see Forstall being a good CEO.

The only downside with Forstall is I don't see him ever being as ruthless as Jobs is. And kill/discontinue a pet project when it needs to be killed. Ah but with training from Cook and others I'm sure he can learn that. And I'm sure he'll be able to oversee iOS + be CEO just fine.