Ternus Takes the Reins: Apple's Steady Growth Era Under Cook Ends

Apple's new CEO John Ternus is set to take over from Tim Cook, who has delivered an outstanding performance in growing the business and creating shareholder value during his tenure. Under Cook, Apple's stock returned more than 2,600% to investors, with the company's market capitalization briefly surpassing $5 trillion. During his final earnings call as CEO, Cook emphasized the potential of the new Siri voice assistant and revealed that Apple is exploring the technical feasibility of running micro-large language models on personal iPhones.

The company posted strong revenue growth in the fiscal third quarter, with iPhone sales generating $54 billion in revenue, a 22% increase year-over-year. However, services revenue showed softness, growing only 12% year-over-year compared to 16% in the previous quarter. Management attributed this slowdown to foreign exchange headwinds and supply constraints.

Apple recently raised prices on some products due to surging memory chip costs, reflecting the transmission of global inflationary pressures to hardware manufacturers. This move signals the company's efforts to protect margins through its pricing power. As Ternus takes over, he will face the challenge of sustaining Apple's growth momentum and maintaining its strong ecosystem moat.