He even showed off his proficiency with the Apple marketing playbook of secrecy-tinged hype, teasing that the iPhone maker is working on “an incredible roadmap” of products but that “you’re not going to get me to talk about the details of that roadmap.”
Investors seemed to shrug at their introduction to the new boss—which may have been exactly how Apple wanted it.
When Apple CFO Kevan Parekh provided a much stronger-than-expected revenue forecast for the current quarter, however, Apple shares sprang to life and rose more than 4%. Sales of iPhones in fiscal Q3 should increase between 14% and 17% year-over-year, Parekh said, compared to the 9% increase that analysts were expecting.
Cook, who cut his teeth as an operations executive fluent in the intricacies of electronics supply chains, said the moment was right for him to hand over the reins, noting that among other things “the business has been performing extremely well.”
During Thursday’s earnings call, an analyst cited Tim Cook’s previous anecdote about the advice he received from Apple cofounder Steve Jobs: Don’t ask what I would do, just do the right thing.
What advice is Cook giving CEO-in-waiting Ternus, the analyst asked?
“My advice is that one of the most important decisions he’ll make is where to spend his time. And I would spend it where the greatest benefit to the company and the users are,” Cook said.
“And never forget the north star for the company: We’re about making the best products in the world that really enrich other people’s lives,” he continued. “If you keep focusing on that and make your decisions around that, it will produce a great business and we’ll be able to build more products and do it all over again.”
