A recent feature in Fortune took a deep dive into how Tim Cook has been changing Apple's inner-workers, corporate culture, and relationships with the outside world. The general conclusion, gleaned from many anonymous Apple employees, is that things are drifting more towards traditional, stiff corporate lifestyle, which is welcomed by some, but not by others.

For example, any significant meetings have project management and global supply management in attendance, which marks a decided shift in emphasis away from engineers. Cook's repertoire with shareholders and  financial types has lead to heretofore unseen initiatives like quarterly dividends and stock buybacks. As an operations guy, Cook has also spent a lot of energy dealing with Foxconn and the whole mess of PR headaches that seem to perpetually haunt Apple's major manufacturing partner. Despite tightening up some of the corporate reins, Cook is reportedly very down to earth and lacking the gigantic ego of Steve Jobs; for example, Cook is perfectly happy to sit down with random employees in the cafeteria, which is something you would never expect Apple's late CEO to do.

It's interesting to hear about these kinds of subtle but important changes inside of Apple, and one can only wonder how they'll shape the next iPhone. Cook worked with Jobs for years, and obviously had the sane passion for great products, but rather than being fanatical and single-minded, Cook is starting to come off as cool and methodical. Such an attitude might leave something to be desired when it comes to stage presence, and produce slightly contrived ads peppered with celebrities, but at the very least, it should keep Apple rolling steadily onwards.

Do you guys worry at all that Apple will suffer in the long term without  a brilliant visionary at the helm, or can lead designer Jony Ive keep the magic flowing on his own?

Source: Fortune

During the Q2 2012 Apple conference call, CEO Tim Cook was asked if, like Microsoft is doing with Windows 8, the iPad and the MacBook Air would inevitable converge into a single product line. Cook thinks not.

Forcing a tablet and an PC together, in Cook's view, is a forced convergence and something that creates a compromised experience for users. He likened it to making a combined toaster and refrigerator, and said it results in tradeoffs that don't please anyone.

Cook's use of the word "compromise" is interesting because Microsoft has been using that word extensively in their pre-Windows 8 hype. Microsoft has been claiming that Windows 8, because it can run desktop apps on a tablet, and run across tablets and desktop environments, is a "no-compromises" solution. To their thinking, an iPad can't do what a PC can do, so it's a compromised device.

It's the classic contention. Apple compromises on what each platform can do so that each device is best at what it does. Microsoft is compromising on what the platform can do so each device can do more.

There really is no such thing as "no-compromises". One of the first lessons you learn in life is that can't have everything. There's opportunity cost to every decision. Microsoft's "no compromises" is and will always be utter BS, they've simply chosen different compromises and hoped it's a better choice.

Microsoft is doing a lot of interesting things with Windows 8 and you can never discount them from any market, even tablets, regardless of how far behind they may seem to be.

Some users will prefer a refrigerator that also makes toast, be it a Windows 8 device that can run full-on Office, or a MacBook Air with a detachable screen that can run iOS as a tablet.

But if Tim Cook is to be believed, Apple isn't going to be making that product now, or for the foreseeable future.

• New iPad vs MacBook Air: Which should you buy?

Time Magazine has named Apple CEO Tim Cook one of the most influential people of 2012, and the prose accompanying the listing were written by none other than Apple board member and former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore.

It is difficult to imagine a harder challenge than following the legendary Steve Jobs as CEO of Apple. Yet Tim Cook, a soft-spoken, genuinely humble and quietly intense son of an Alabama shipyard worker and a homemaker, hasn't missed a single beat.

Fiercely protective of Jobs' legacy and deeply immersed in Apple's culture, Cook, 51, has already led the world's most valuable and innovative company to new heights while implementing major policy changes smoothly and brilliantly.

He has indelibly imprinted his leadership on all areas of Apple — from managing its complex inner workings to identifying and shepherding new "insanely great" technology and design breakthroughs into the product pipeline.

You can read the rest via the link below. Tim Cook had assumed a lot of the functional of a traditional CEO at Apple long before Steve Jobs' passing. As much as Apple is held in the highest of esteem as a design company, Cook is heralded as the man who figured out how to make those designs better and more cost effectively than ever before. As much as Steve Jobs and Jony Ive envisioned revolutionary products, Cook and his team forged a revolutionary production system.

Apple still has to conceive of fantastic new products, but with Cook at the helm, once they do they don't have to worry about building them. Apple may have lost the best conceptual guy in the business, but they still have the best operations guy.

Other prominent technologists on the list included Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and the always getting richer Marc Andreessen. (No Googlers, Tweeters, or Microsoftians, far as we could tell.)

Source: Tim

UPDATE: Never happened, according to Valve:

We actually, we all sent mail to each other, going, "Who's Tim Cook meeting with? Is he meeting with you? I'm not meeting with Tim Cook." So we're... it's one of those rumors that was stated so factually that we were actually confused.

No one here was meeting with Tim Cook or with anybody at Apple that day. I wish we were! We have a long list of things we'd love to see Apple do to support games and gaming better. But no, we didn't meet with Tim Cook. He seems like a smart guy, but I've never actually met him.

Source: Kotaku

ORIGINAL:

Last week Tim Cook visited Valve, one of the biggest influencers in PC gaming, to talk about a work-in-progress TV set Apple is working on, according to anonymous sources. Supposedly the TV will be ready for games, complete with Kinect-style motion recognition, touch input through a custom remote control, and support Siri-esque voice input. Obviously, the gaming opportunities for such a mythical piece of hardware are significant, especially if it's able to tap into the huge library of iOS games currently available, but it's unclear how Valve would fit into that picture. Supposedly, this TV set will be available this year, though analysts think that kind of timing is unlikely.

This rumor comes after word that Valve was working on their own console called the Steam Box, after their hugely successful digital distribution platform, but Valve promptly corrected the media by saying they would rather partner with a hardware vendor for that sort of thing. A vendor like Apple? It's hard to say, and I somehow doubt Apple would allow anything but the App Store to sell games on there, but an Apple TV set with gaming powered by Steam would be really, really awesome.

It's worth noting that Valve is perpetually experimenting, including in the realm of wearable computing, but the process is more about gathering valuable information than it is about shipping a product. That said, even if Apple was talking to Valve about a TV doesn't mean they would be directly involved. Steam started supporting Mac about two years ago, and it seems more likely that Cook's visit was about how that relationship is evolving, rather than some high-profile hardware partnership.

In any case, it's interesting to hear about the potential capabilities of a game-ready Apple TV. Could you guys replace your Xbox 360 with an Apple TV that plays games originally optimized for the new iPad?

Source: Cult of Mac

P.S.: For a good laugh, check out Team Fortress 2's Mac update minisite and comic.

Update: Aaaaand it totally didn't happen, according to Valve CEO Gabe Newell.

A while back, after being frustrated he couldn't unlock his off-contract AT&T iPhone to use outside the US, a gentlemen wrote Apple CEO Tim Cook to express his frustration, and Cook's officer arranged for AT&T to provide him with an unlock. It seems that wasn't a one off, as 9to5Mac reports it's since happened several more times.

We have received upwards of six emails from readers confirming an email sent to [Apple CEO Tim Cook]’s office resulted in a response from AT&T Partnership Operations informing them the carrier would make an exception to unlock their devices. Like the original reader, our tipsters have not received responses directly from Cook, but they did receive an email with instructions to tether their iPhone to iTunes to complete the unlock.

Official unlocks work via IMEI number -- the carrier enters the iPhone's EMEI number into Apple's database and the next time iTunes detects to the device, it connects to Apple, verifies the eligibility, and carries out the unlock. International carriers have been doing this, for free or for a fee, for years. AT&T hasn't.

So the question becomes, if these stories are accurate, and if AT&T is capable of doing unlocks when Tim Cook's office requests it, why can't they simply have an official policy? Why can't they just do it because, when you're off contract, it's the right thing to do?

An unlocked AT&T iPhone can't be used on Verizon or Sprint, and can only be used on T-Mobile 2G EDGE is most places, so any paranoia about losing customers could be more than offset by the goodwill it would engender from those very customers. And if a customer really is leaving for another country, wouldn't they be better off leaving with a great impression of AT&T, than bad feelings and a paperweight for a phone?

Source: 9to5Mac

Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting China, having recently toured Foxconn facilities, but so far his most interesting meeting has been with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang. Li committed to improving intellectual property protection for international companies like Apple, who is currently duking it out with a local LCD vendor over the iPad trademark. The Vice Premier said specifically:

To be more open to the outside is a condition for China to transform its economic development, expand domestic demands and conduct technological innovation.

Apple has invested a ton of money into Foxconn, and by association, the Chinese economy; it's expected that they're also on good terms with the government, and that they'll keep up those relations to make sure iPhone and iPad production continues unabated. That said, I can't help but wonder who needs who more as far as economics go: China for the money Apple's bringing in, or Apple for China's supply chain?

Source: Xinhua

Tim Cook isn't the only one cashing in Apple stock these days; Senior VP of marketing, Phil Schiller, CFO Peter Openheimer, VP of hardware engineering Robert Mansfield, and VP of iOS software Scott Forstall recently had the restrictions on some of their stocks removed, resulting in a sizable sell-off between March 24 and March 26. Even Cook sold off a few more. Here's the breakdown according to the SEC filings.

Tim Cook – Apple CEO

• 200,000 shares sold; stock prices ranging from $596.05-606.80.
• Total value: $119,715,170

Philip Schiller – Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing

• 64,151 shares sold; stock prices ranging from $602.30-603.05.
• Total value: $38,661,014

Peter Openheimer – Senior VP and CFO

• 150,000 shares sold; stock prices ranging from $596.05-599.33.
• Total value: $89,624,444

Robert Mansfield – Senior VP Hardware Engineering

• 56,016 shares sold at $596.05.
• Total value: $33,388,336

Scott Forstall – Senior VP iOS Software

• 55,849 shares sold at $596.05.
• Total value: $33,288,796

Total dollar amount combined: $314,677,763.28

Before anyone freaks out that Apple execs are losing faith in the company, this is actually pretty common practice, and not surprising considering these guys probably have lots more stock (restricted and otherwise) piled up. The timing also lines up nicely with Apple's plans to buy that stock right back. The AAPL stock price approached $615 a pop during the period the execs sold off, compared to around $350 at this time last year. This is the part where you start smacking yourself for not buying stock five years ago when it was down around $90.

Source: SEC Filings, iPhoneinCanada

As part of their cash-balance conference call this morning, Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to a question about the new iPad by saying Apple had a "record weekend". Cook didn't elaborate further, and didn't specify if that meant sales volumes or some other metric. Apple hasn't been shy about issuing post-launch press releases to tout big numbers in the past, so it's possible we'll see that this year as well.

Cook also once again highlighted the growth potential of the iPhone, which currently only accounts for 9% of the handset market. Apple, like many others, believes that one day soon all phones will be smartphones and they think the iPhone has a huge opportunity there, as it does in other markets.

Likewise, they see sales growing for the iPad and believe the iPad market will eventually surpass the PC market as a whole. Apple owns far more of the tablet market than they do the smartphone market, which creates the potential for remarkable growth.

The App Store, iTunes, iCloud, and Siri were also singled out to highlight the pace of Apple's innovation and the breadth of their ecosystem.

The most recent quarterly results included:

• 37.04 million iPhones sold – 128% growth
• 15.43 million iPads sold – 111% increase
• 7.7 million iPod touch’s sold

That combined for 315 cumulative iOS device sales to date -- 62 million in the last quarter alone. And that was before the new iPad was released.

From the Apple II to the Mac to the iPhone and iPad, Apple has relentlessly strived to mainstream computing technology, and that positions them well for that not-so-distant future where all phones are smart and most computers are appliance-like cars rather than workstation trucks.

Right now, one (1) share of Apple costs roughly the same as a new iPad, and Apple CEO Tim Cook just traded in 37,500 shares for a grand total of $11.1 million. Yeah.

For the last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been holding onto a bunch of restricted Apple stock awarded to him when he first took up day-to-day leadership duties when Steve Jobs left on medical leave. On March 10, the restriction was lifted on a bunch of that stock, which allowed him to sell. 17,322 of those shares were surrendered for taxes, but the other 20,178 were all sold yesterday over the span of five separate sales throughout the day.

Cook recieved another million shares when he signed on as CEO that he'll be able to sell in 2016 and 2021, and no doubt he's holding even more stock beyond that; Cook's definitely in it for the long haul. The street doesn't seem to mind the sale -- in fact, prices have climbed from $556 this morning to $568.

Source: [SEC](http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000118143112016500/xslF345X03/rrd337933.xml">are available over here) via iPhoneInCanada

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"I’m in the camp that believes Apple will become the world’s first trillion dollar company."

Yesterday we had the pleasure of listening to Tim Cook deliver a superb presentation to a group of institutional investors at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference in San Francisco.

I guess when you’re Goldman and you host your conference an easy drive from Cupertino, there’s a pretty good chance you can snag an appearance from Apple’s CEO.

If you didn’t catch the whole presentation already, you can catch a replay at Apple’s website. The first several minutes are focused on the issue of underage labor at factories from Apple’s suppliers. Cook was convincing that Apple is on top of the situation, but it honestly doesn’t spark my interest too much as a tech geek and shareholder.

Before I dive into the bits I found most interesting, I need to say that Apple is obviously a well oiled machine when it comes to everything PR. And speaking to investors, while technically an IR (investor relations) role, is still just another form of PR. After all, these events are publicly broadcast due to regulation FD.

Tim Cook knew exactly what he wanted to say to the audience. I’m quite sure that the Goldman analyst’s questions were vetted by Apple ahead of time. It’s all about controlling the message. Apple did this with the precision of a trained sniper.

So let’s move onto the stuff that got me jazzed as a shareholder.

The Huge Opportunity Facing the iPhone

Yeah, Apple shipped 37 million iPhones last quarter. But Cook points out that this still only means Apple sold 1 out of 4 smartphones. And they sold only 1 out of 10 mobile phones.

Consider Cook’s comments that the smartphone market will expand to one billion units by 2015. That’s no so far away. If Apple hangs onto even 20% of this market, that’s 200 million units, or an average of 50 million per quarter. This is substantially more than the record 37 million unit quarter Apple just delivered.

Emerging markets are playing a huge roll. Cook talked about how China generated Apple only a few hundred millions of dollars in revenue a few years ago. But last year? 13 billion bucks! Kinda makes it all clear as to why Apple is so focused on China.

Cook also gave a great example of how Apple keeps operating along its “think different” mantra. The company believes that no matter where you are, people want the best products. So they convinced China Unicom to try a post-paid (contract) plan for the iPhone. The result? It worked in spades. Who knows if Apple can swing this with more carriers in more markets, but for all of us (me included) who thought the market was moving more towards pre-paid, maybe Apple is changing the game again?

Oh, and Cook believes that 25% of smartphone demand will come from China and Brazil by 2015. Apple has said before that it has started to focus more on the Brazilian market over the last year.

Will the Tablet Market Exceed the PC Market

One year ago, I wrote this blog post about how the tablet market would grow to be 400 million units, matching the then-size of the smartphone market.

Cook said that he thinks the tablet market will exceed the size of the PC market. His reasons for stating this line up really well with what I published last February. And just for comparison, by 2015 the PC market is expected to be somewhere north of 500 million units. His prediction exceeds mine. Nice.

Apple only holds a single digit percentage of the PC market. But with tablets? They invented the space. They dominate the industry. Even with the momentum of Android, I’m going to throw out a broad range and say that Apple could hang onto 30-60% of the overall tablet market. That’s 150 to 300 million units if the market demand reaches 500 million.

For comparison, last quarter Apple sold 15 million units. Run rate that number and you get 60 million (and remember last quarter was a peak holiday quarter, so run rating it isn’t exactly fair to do quite yet).

If you believe the tablet market is growing like crazy and that Apple can keep up a reasonable market share, revenue is bound to go up, up, up.

Even with reasonable ASP (average selling price) declines on the product line, the future is looking very bright for Apple. With that kind of growth opportunity, I’m more than happy to see the iPad cannibalize some Mac sales.

More Hints about the TV Market

Tim’s comments here were very interesting. He said Apple doesn’t do hobbies. So why is Apple still calling the Apple TV a hobby? Well, Tim doesn’t think that it has the same kind of potential as the other legs of Apple’s stool (Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad).

But he did tell us that Apple believed something would come of this market if they kept “pulling the string” and “following our intuition”.

Then he left us hanging, and they shifted the conversation to Siri and iCloud. Kind of interesting when you realize that these are two features that would make an entirely-Apple TV set a killer product. And let’s not forget that in the Steve Jobs biography, he said he felt they finally cracked the problem.

The TV is becoming a smart, connected device. Why shouldn’t Apple extend its dominance to this market? It’s just another device to interact with and connect to the iCloud.

If I were running Samsung’s TV business, I’d be crapping my pants in fearful anticipation of what Apple’s got planned.

Returning Cash to Shareholders

Cook came right out and said that Apple has more cash than it needs to run its business. It’s an extremely obvious statement, but when a CEO publicly admits this it all but guarantees they’ll be doing something about it.

Wall Street is expecting a buyback or dividend this year. I think we’ll see it. I hope we’ll see it. I don’t think Apple is getting the credit for its cash hoard in its stock price. But we have to wait and see. Cook is asking for investors to be patient so they can “do this in a very deliberate way and make the best decision for shareholders”.

Heading to a Trillion Dollar Market Cap?

Overall, I thought Tim Cook did an amazing job at the Goldman Sachs conference. His message was clear, strong, and believable.

I’m in the camp that believes Apple will become the world’s first trillion dollar company (by market capitalization).

Who’s with me?

Apple has posted a note on their investor relations page stating that CEO Tim Cook will be holding a presentation during a Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference tomorrow. Apple is also planning to live stream audio of Cook's speech, scheduled to begin at 3:30 PM Eastern.

Welcome to the audio webcast of Tim Cook’s presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference. The presentation will begin at approximately 12:30pm PT/3:30pm ET on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Please note that comments made during the presentation may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those forward-looking statements.

Although Tim Cook has presented a number of times as Chief Operating Officer at previous Goldman Sachs events, this will be the first time as CEO of Apple. During the 2010 event, Cook discussed retail store progression as well as the iPad shortly before it's official release. We'll be covering the presentation in case anything of importance is discussed, such as iPad 3, so make sure you tune into iMore for the full breakdown!

Source: Apple Investor Relations via MacRumors, @settBIT

9to5Mac's Mark Gurman got his hands on an email, purportedly from Apple CEO Tim Cook, that congratulates team Apple on a blockbuster Q1 2012. In the email, Cook plugs Apple's education initiatives launched last week, and goes on to tease "some exciting new things going on at Apple" that will be revealed at a Town Hall meeting tomorrow.

Read the full email via the link below.

Source: 9to5Mac

While Apple CEO Tim Cook had a lot to say during the Apple Q1 2012 conference call, when asked about 4G LTE, bigger screen, and whether or not the mobile market had become a two-horse race between Android and iOS, Cook played his cards close to his chest.

Cook said he didn't think the mobile market was like Mac vs. Windows, where despite 20 quarters of consecutive growth, Apple's share remained in the single digits. In mobile, citing recent metrics reports, Cook said Apple and Google's Android remained in a tight race. Further, he wouldn't discount Microsoft either, saying that there was a horse in Redmond that always suits up and always runs, and will keep running.

We'll ignore how many other horses there are, we just want to be the lead one. 

Cook also managed to skirt question about Apple's LTE future and larger displays for iPhone, saying that with 37 million iPhones sold last quarter, customers appear happy with the current product.

Personally, we're just waiting to see what iPhone 5 is packing later this year.

As part of Apple's Q2 2012 conference call, CEO Tim Cook was asked what, if any effect low-cost, feature-reduced tablets like Amazon's Kindle Fire had on iPad 2 sales over the holiday quarter. Technically, he was asked a more leading question -- did he think people went to the store, looked at Kindle Fire and its ilk, and then bought the more functional iPad?

Cook responded that he pays attention to US sales data on a weekly basis, he saw no change, plus or minus, on iPad sales following Amazon's introduction of the Kindle Fire. He had, however, heard that theory anecdotally from customers.

It's a common belief touted in some markets -- that low cost or free entrants spur interest among consumers who ultimately opt for a more premium option. In terms of Mac sales, Cook re-iterated that Apple is seeing cannibalization by the iPad, but he still believes low-end Windows PCs are being hit much harder. And he loves that.

With 15.43 million iPads sold in the last quarter, 55 million since launch in 2010, and with 170,000 iPad-specific apps in the iTunes App Store, Cook thinks the overall offering and ecosystem are hard to beat and that, long term, iPad is a huge opportunity for Apple. Overall, Cook doesn't see limited functionality, lower cost tablets or e-readers as even in the same category, and doesn't think customers who want the iPad would settle for less. In fact, Cook quoted IDC as saying the tablet market had outgrown the desktop PC market.

Last year, Cook said, wasn't the year of the tablet. It was the year of the iPad 2.

(Hey, where did we read that before?)

MacGenerations claims to have gotten their hands on an email to Apple employees, purportedly from CEO Tim Cook, which follows up the supplier responsibility report issued earlier today. It reads, in part:

Finding and correcting problems is not enough. Our team has built an ambitious training program to educate workers about Apple's code of conduct, workers' rights, and occupational health and safety. More than one million people know about these rights because they went to work for an Apple supplier. Additionally, Apple offers continuing education programs free of charge at many manufacturing sites in China. More than 60,000 workers have enrolled in classes to learn business, entrepreneurial skills or English.

Read it in full via the link below.

Source: MacGenerations

The Wall Street Journal has profiled Tim Cook, highlighting a few of the changes at Apple since he took over as CEO.

• Mr. Cook has tended to administrative matters that never interested Mr. Jobs, such as promotions and corporate reporting structures
• The new CEO recently announced a charitable program promising Apple would match employee donations
• Mr. Cook has restructured Apple's big education division
• Mr. Cook also promoted vice president Eddy Cue to Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services

There's a mix of conjecture and analyst and investor wishful thinking thrown in for good measure, and also focus once again drawn on Cook not being the "product guy" Steve Jobs was.

In the past, Mr. Cook once asked an employee briefing him on a new service, "tell me again how this helps me sell more phones," according to this person.

Just as Jobs had Cook to complement his strengths and fill his weaknesses, Cook has Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall, and the rest of the Executive Team, as well as the Apple culture painstakingly crafted by Steve Jobs over the years.

Steering one of the biggest ships in the world isn't easy, of course, but it helps when it's got a great crew and is already heading in a good direction.

Source: Wall Street Journal

PCMag notes that Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son revealed in an interview with the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, John Roos, that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was working on Apple's next big product up until the day before his passing.

"I visited Apple for the announcement of the iPhone 4S [at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California]. When I was having a meeting with Tim Cook, he said, 'Oh Masa, sorry I have to quit our meeting.' I said, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'My boss is calling me.' That was the day of the announcement of the iPhone 4S. He said that Steve is calling me because he wants to talk about their next product. And the next day, he died."

Really, could it have been otherwise?

Source: PCMag



According to MacGenerations, new Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent out another company-wide email, this time to let Apple employees know they'll be getting some extra time off at Thanksgiving or thereabouts.

Team,

I consider it an honor to come to work every day alongside the most innovative and most dedicated people on earth. This is an extraordinary time to be at Apple, and it's all made possible by your incredible efforts.

We've had a record-setting year so far and we're heading into the holidays with the strongest product lineup in our history. Customers are absolutely in love with the iPad 2, and the amazing new iPhone 4S is off to the best start of any iPhone we've ever made. The Mac is soaring to new heights with OS X Lion, and on the eve of its 10th birthday, the iPod is still the world's most popular music player.

In recognition of the hard work you've put in this year, we're going to take some extra time off for Thanksgiving. We will shut down with pay on November 21, 22 and 23 so our teams can spend the entire week with their families and friends.

Of course, Retail and some other groups will need to work that week so we can continue to serve our customers. If you're in one of these groups, please check with your manager about taking time off at a later date. Our international teams will schedule their three-day shutdowns this quarter at a time that's best for them. Details will be available on AppleWeb.

I hope everyone enjoys this much deserved break.

Tim

Off to a great start.

Source: MacGenerations

According to a report from All Things D, Apple will hold its media event to launch the iPhone 5 on October 4.  The information comes from “sources close to the situation”.

Tuesday, October 4. That’s the day Apple is currently expected to hold its next big media event, according to sources close to the situation, where the tech giant will unveil the next iteration of its popular iPhone.

The event will be of particular significance because it will supposedly be fronted for the first time by new CEO Tim Cook. Tim Cook will be the main presenter according to the same sources but will have help as usual from Scott Forstall, Phil Schiller and maybe even Eddy Cue.

TiPb previously heard that Apple was moving up the iPhone 5 launch from an October 14 to October 7 timeline, but if the announcement is only happening on October 4, the launch would have to be later in the month, perhaps October 14 again.

There has been no official word from Apple to confirm the date and until there is, this remains nothing more than a rumor; although All Things D is a very reliable source. Apple will send out invites for the event but notoriously leaves it as late as possible. We will let you know as soon as it is set in stone!

UPDATE: Jim Dalrymple for The Loop, whose sources at Apple are usually terrific, seems to agree about the date. [The Loop]

Yep.

[All Things D]

9to5Mac scored a copy of an internal memo from new CEO, Tim Cook, announcing that Apple's Eddy Cue is getting a promotion from VP of iTunes, MobileMe, and App Store, to Senior VP of Internet Software and Services, and putting him on the exec team.

Team, It is my pleasure to announce the promotion of Eddy Cue to Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services. Eddy will report to me and will serve on Apple’s executive management team.

Eddy oversees Apple’s industry-leading content stores including the iTunes Store, the revolutionary App Store and the iBookstore, as well as iAd and Apple’s innovative iCloud services.

He is a 22-year Apple veteran and leads a large organization of amazing people. He played a major role in creating the Apple online store in 1998, the iTunes Music Store in 2003 and the App Store in 2008.

Apple is a company and culture unlike any other in the world and leaders like Eddy get that. Apple is in their blood. Eddy and the entire executive management team are dedicated to making the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.

Please join me in congratulating Eddy on this significant and well-deserved promotion. I have worked with Eddy for many years and look forward to working with him even closer in the future.

The move changes the top line of execs showcased on Apple's official bios page as well, so read into that what you may. (i.e. Voltron's got a new yellow lion arm)

Cue was famously put in charge of MobileMe following its less than stellar launch, and Setve Jobs' subsequent march through the halls with a flame thrower. He also took the stage with Rupert Murdoch to launch the Daily and unveil Apple's subscription news service.

Best wishes and congratulations to Eddy Cue in his new roll. Can't wait to see what it brings us.

[9to5Mac, Apple Executive Profiles]

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Georgia, Rene, Seth, and Matthew Panzarino of The Next Web talk Steve Jobs resignation fallout, Tim Cook's email to Apple, mobile malware, Acer's iPad fever, Samsung's Space Odyssey, and buh-bye TV rentals. This is iPad Live!

Hosts

• Georgia @GeorgiaTiPb)
• Rene Ritchie @reneritchie)
• Seth Clifford @sethclifford)
• Matthew Panzarino @mpanzarino)

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Thanks to the TiPb iPad Accessory Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Music Hear me Roar by iPad Live theme song contest winner, DieselJesus!

In the 8-K filing following their top-level restructuring this week, Apple revealed that they were awarding new CEO Tim Cook quite the signing bonus:

In connection with Mr. Cook's appointment as Chief Executive Officer, the Board awarded Mr. Cook 1,000,000 restricted stock units. Fifty percent of the restricted stock units are scheduled to vest on each of August 24, 2016 and August 24, 2021, subject to Mr. Cook's continued employment with Apple through each such date.

As noted by MacRumors, that's worth almost $400 million at current prices. Half the stock can be divested in 5 years, the other half in 10 years, as long as Cook is still with Apple.

This would, of course, be in addition to his salary, options, and bonuses. (Last year those totaled $58 million.)

No word yet on the corporate jet...

[SEC via MacRumors]

Ars Technica has received what they feel confident is an email from new Apple CEO Tim Cook to all Apple employees. In it, Cook addresses his new role, and his confidence in Apple and his team going forward.

Team:

I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I've ever made and it's been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve's optimism for Apple's bright future.

Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve's ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman.

I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple's unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.

I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is.

Tim

Ars has some great analysis to go along with the letter. Check it out via the link below.

[Ars Technica]

Apple has updated their corporate profiles page to reflect Tim Cook's new position as CEO and Steve Jobs' elevation to Chairman of the board.

Tim Cook is the CEO of Apple and serves on its Board of Directors.

Before being named CEO in August 2011, Tim was Apple's Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

Prior to joining Apple, Tim was vice president of Corporate Materials for Compaq and was responsible for procuring and managing all of Compaq’s product inventory. Previous to his work at Compaq, Tim was the chief operating officer of the Reseller Division at Intelligent Electronics.

Tim also spent 12 years with IBM, most recently as director of North American Fulfillment where he led manufacturing and distribution functions for IBM’s Personal Computer Company in North and Latin America.

Tim earned an M.B.A. from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University.

Apple has also updated Steve Jobs' bio to reflect his new position as Chairman of the Board.

Steve Jobs is the Chairman of the Board of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976. Apple is leading the consumer technology world with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, its family of iPod media players and iTunes media store, and its Mac computers and iLife and iWork application suites. Apple recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, which created some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time including Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille. Pixar merged with The Walt Disney Company in 2006 and Steve now serves on Disney's board of directors.

Steve grew up in the apricot orchards which later became known as Silicon Valley, and still lives there with his family.

And here's the newly updated executive team spread.

[Apple.com]

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Rene, Georgia, and Seth discuss Steve Jobs resigning as CEO of Apple, becoming Chairman of the Board, Tim Cook taking over as CEO, what it means for Apple and for end users, for partners and for competitors. This is iPhone Live!

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Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs giving the commencement speech at Stanford in 2005, and new Apple CEO Tim Cook giving the commencement speech at Auburn in 2010.

[Stanford on YouTube, Auburn on YouTube, thanks Dave.]

Apple has just announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO, and will now take over as Chairman of the Board. Tim Cook, formerly COO, will replace Jobs as CEO and also join the board as a director.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple's Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Steve Jobs' letter to the board, after the break.

[Apple PR, Apple PR]

August 24, 2011–To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal's Yukari Iwatani Kane, who's sources are uncannily accurate, added that Jobs will remain involved going forward. [WSJ]

People familiar with the situation have said that Mr. Jobs continues to be active at Apple and is closely involved in the company's product strategy.

According to Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope, Apple COO Tim Cook suggested during a meeting that the tablet market -- which is currently dominated by the iPad -- could eclipse the PC market over the next several years.

Shope says, "the company appeared more overtly optimistic on the long-term prospects for the iOS platform than it has been in quite some time." Cook said, "he sees no reason why the tablet market shouldn’t eclipse the PC market over the next several years," according to Shope's note.

Analysts say a lot of things, and Cook's words do seem a little far-fetched, but given Apple's growth in the tablet market (which they essentially created) it's not completely unheard of. Shope calculates Apple could sell 8.1 million iPads for the June quarter, which would represent a 72% increase year-over-year.

So how long before the iPad starts putting the stomp on PC sales? Sound off in the comments!

[BusinessInsider]

During a meeting with Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, Apple COO Tim Cook referred to the iPhone as "the mother of all halos" because of its ability to expand sales of other core products like the iPad and the Mac. Cook went on to strongly suggest that Apple would be releasing a cheaper iPhone in the not-so-distant future:

The analyst says Cook “appeared to reaffirm the notion that Apple is likely to develop lower priced offerings” to expand the market for the iPhone. Cook said the company is planning “clever things” to address the prepaid market, and that Apple did not want its products to be “just for the rich,” and that the company is “not ceding any market.”

Could Cook be referring to the rumored release of a cheaper, smaller iPhone Nano? Maybe, maybe not. Last time Cook said Apple had ideas about netbooks we got iPad and the 11-inch MacBook Air.

In addition, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer suggested that rumors of a soft-SIM or "Universal SIM" iPhone may be in the works to help Apple prevent carriers from dictating terms, which would ultimately be beneficial for the consumer.

One last significant tidbit was that Tim Cook indicated the tablet market will eventually out-grow the entire consumer PC market, with all major PC manufactures jumping into the game. However Apple believes that, despite growing competition, they will remain a leader in the space because of their innovations and year-long head start.

What do you think, is Apple interested in expanding their iOS product line, or could they have other ideas to own the smartphone and tablet markets?

[Forbes]

Almost exactly two years after he took his first medical leave of absence, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking another leave of absence to "focus on [his] health." Apple COO Tim Cook will take over day-to-day operations while Jobs will remain as CEO. Here's his email to all Apple employees:

Team,
At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.
I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple's day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.
I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.
Steve

On behalf of everyone here at TiPb and Smartphone Experts we wish Steve Jobs a full and fast recovery.

[Apple PR via Engadget, Reuters]

Bloomberg sat down with Verizon President Lowell McAdam who was on stage with Tim Cook during yesterday's big Verizon iPhone announcement, and their discussion sheds some light on some of the negotiations held between Verizon and Apple that led to them finally carrying Apple's flagship smartphone. Here are some quick highlights, beginning with McAdam talking about their branding and logo missing from the device itself:

To reach a deal, Apple and Verizon had to reconcile different approaches to branding. Verizon puts its stamp on other manufacturers’ devices, including phones from Research In Motion Ltd. and Motorola. By contrast, only Apple’s name appears on the iPhone.

“They don’t put a lot of logos on their phones,” McAdam said in the interview. “So that wasn’t a major issue for us.”

Former Apple exec Jean-Louis Gassee chimed in saying that Verizon probably saw the success of the iPhone under AT&T and quickly agreed to requests from Apple on excluding carrier branding. Given the amount of crapware and branding on every other phone under Verizon, we have a feeling this was more difficult for them to agree on than McAdam would like you to believe. But did they ultimately have a choice?

In addition, last year's reports of Verizon cell towers on Apple's campus turned out to be for testing the Verizon iPhone as most had assumed.

The companies erected Verizon cellular towers at Apple's Cupertino, California, headquarters to check the phone's signal and avoid the reliability troubles of the iPhone at AT&T.

The most interesting thing to note, however, is that most of the negotiations took place between Apple COO Tim Cook and McAdam himself, without much input from Steve Jobs unless it was really needed. Verizon and Apple worked together for over half a year on the technical hurdles they faced before deciding the device was ready for primetime.

"We probably worked six or nine months on the technical side of this and saw we could make this work," McAdam said. "Then we did the commercial side. The commercial deal took us a day."

It's interesting to see how things played out leading up to the Verizon iPhone event on Tuesday, especially when it comes to the technical and branding issues involved. Now that it's finally here, how do you think it will sell in comparison to AT&T? Let us know in the comments!

[BusinessWeek]

Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook stepped up and filled in for Steve Jobs during Jobs' leave of absence last year, and has been given a discretionary bonus of $5 million, along with 75,000 shares of Apple stock (currently worth just shy of $17 million), by way of thank you bonus.

Keeping Apple not only stable but thriving during the absence and then-uncertain future of their famous CEO, however, was no doubt invaluable to Apple and its shareholders.

Congrats to Tim Cook then. Don't spend it all on iPad pre-orders (though that would certainly explain the 91,000 units in the first 6 hours!)

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Rene, Mickey (The Cell Phone Junkie), and Phil (Android Central, WMExperts) for the great sex-apps rejection, Steve Jobs and Tim Cook speak, iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 3 for iPad, iPhone+AT&T first, Droid+Verizon last, and all the week's news. Listen in!

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Apple's Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook spoke at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference 2010 today, and Apple provided a link for us to listen in to.

Overall, Cook came off extremely well. He talked about the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad extensively as well as their iTunes content, app ecosystem, and carrier partners. His key points included Apple saying "no" to good ideas that distract focus from the great ideas they say "yes" to, innovation being driven by their people, and their single-minded goal of making the best products in the world. That was "Apple's magic", and like a lot of magic its simplicity and obviousness are likely what keeps it a secret.

Longer form highlights after the break!

• Apple should be thought of as a mobile device company. If you watch iPad keynote, look at Apple's latest revenues, compare them to Nokia, Sony, Samsung, Apple is largest measured by revenue.
• Transition to mobile for Apple began in 1991 with introduction of first portable Mac. Last several years, Mac has become predominantly mobile device business. Stats show Apple leads PC industry by 10-20 points in portable share. Last decade, Apple announced iPod in 2001, iPhone in 2007, iPad recently, all are mobile devices. Vast majority of revenues come from mobile devices and content purchased for mobile devices. Uniquely positioned to do extremely well, seamless integration of hardware and software, very few companies in the world can do that.
• World not as simple as biggest competitors, partners. Can't cleanly put them in buckets. Take Microsoft, we love the Mac Office division, great product, work with them tightly. Balance of Microsoft they compete vigorously against, OS, mobile OS. Google is similar, partner in map, search, compete with them in mobile OS and now hardware phone space. Media companies, partner with them so well Apple is selling billions of dollars in content. Apple is biggest digital content company in world. Carrier partners also key.
• Apple TV is still a hobby. Other businesses, PC, MP3, phone, are all huge markets, huge unit volume. Apple TV is in small market today. Grew in last quarter 35% so Apple remains interested, improved UI significantly [3.0]. Gut tells Apple something is there. Today, however, go-to-market model is very difficult. Leads to TV and Apple has no interest in being in TV market. Tim Cook is avid Apple TV user, gut says something there, continuing to invest.
• iMac is best desktop computer in the world, doing phenomenally well, will continue to invest in it. 22% unit share in retail desktop (primarily iMac), revenue share was staggering 42%. iMac is key. People will continue to want gorgeous, big screen, simple to use, elegant machine.
• If you look at Mac, has outgrown market 20 or 21 last quarters, outgrew by multiple. PC industry over 300 million unites. Mac did over 10 million. Ceiling is far above. Apple continues to invest tremendous amount of energy and talent. Convince Windows users to switch. Apple provides much better experience. 50% comes from Windows. Going after that.
• iPod family, iPod touch is runaway hit. Helps iPhone platform. Grew 100% year over year, December quarter grew 50%. Every sale helps fuel more app sales, helps fuel more devs, helps fuel platform. Great growth vehicle.
• iPad hasn't sold yet but a lot of interest. Cook has been using it for 6 months. Experience absolutely incredible. Very excited.
• iPhone, just gotten started. Only 2.5 years since first iPhone shipped. Now between iPhone, iPod touch, sold 75 million. iPhone 40 million up to last quarter. Making platform larger and larger, ecosystem better and better. Apps more and more what people desire, can't live without. Very few companies can manage a platform. Apple's been doing it for 30 years. Who would have dreamed of App Store numbers even a year ago?
• "Complete" is not in Apple dictionary. All about innovation, obsoleting themselves. Continue to make things better and better. Ecosystem is really good. Platform is really good. Foundation is in place. Will get better.
• On cannibalization, haven't sold an iPad, Cook is paranoid, but isn't losing sleep over it. Cook's been clear on netbooks, most won't want to continue experience with them, only interested in price. When they look at iPad, play with it, experience magic, compare to netbook, Cook doesn't think they'll buy netbook. Some of those customers are game for iPad. Many others. Will report back once they start selling them.
• iPad distribution will evolve. Launching new category. Launch in Apple direct channels (retail, online, education), and in indirect channels with assisted sales like store-in-store at Best Buy, internationally at Apple Premium Resellers. Places with really great assisted sales but will expand over time. Start where sales people will answer questions.
• Hit $500 for iPad so as not to leave umbrella beneath it for competition. Got very aggressive. Incredible value, amazing experience. Best browsing experience you can imagine, better than 99% can imagine. Have to try it. Email is off the chart. Platform allows apps from App Store. Share photos like never before. Watch video, listen to music, read books. iBook Store will launch when iPad ships. A number of things appreciably better than anything else offered today. Anxious to get it out.
• AT&T, primary advantage of single carrier model like with iPhone is simplicity and some cases can innovate with carrier, offer feature like Visual Voice Mail on iPhone 2G. Hard to do that with multiple carriers. Multi-carrier model question is can you sell more units? In some countries, carriers have sticky relationships with customers so more carriers allow you to sell more units. End of Q1, top 10 countries, 5 of those were single carrier, 3 were contractual exclusivity, 2 can add additional at any time. Added carriers France, UK, Singapore, Scandinavia, Canada. Pleasantly surprised that in every country units and share increased significantly. Good choices but may not be the case in every country, may not do it in every country. Case by case basis.
• AT&T iPad pricing is revolutionary. Unlimited data $29.99/month, 256MB $14.99/month. [Standard pricing for a laptop USB dongle] is $60 with contract. iPad is no contract. Wouldn't want to speculate if other carriers would have to match that to carry iPad.
• Privilege and curse of technology is backwards compatibility vs. innovation. Balancing act between how far to go back, how much of install base to include. Apple's done that for a long time, has come to intelligent conclusion each time. Part of their heritage.
• Doesn't see it as Mac OS or iPhone OS, place for both. Mac OS is amazingly scalable. Huge competitive advantage for Apple. Mac OS from iPod touch to iPad to iPhone to Macintosh. No other company on earth can use foundation of their OS like that. Lets them innovate at fast speed with fewer people than it would take if they were [Microsoft]. Huge advantage.
• Seen interest in Enterprise for iPhone, Mac. iPhone is 2.5 years old. 75% of Fortune 100 are either deploying or currently testing for deployment. 50% of Financial Times 100 are doing same thing. Saw huge uplift in interest after 2.0, 3.0 due to Enterprise features in software. Sees this continuing.
• On Mac, amazing how many CIO's are visiting Apple, interested in Mac. Don't have huge Enterprise direct sales force. Many CIO's who once thought standardization was most important think, now look at salaries and think creativity of people is at peek, increasingly let employees decide. Many employees have always wanted to use Mac. Who wouldn't want to use Mac over Windows PC. Mac OS well known for being more stable, better security, and get ease of use features.
• Cautions people in general, hear Enterprise, think it's bigger than consumer market but it isn't. 10% is Enterprise but consumers are 50%. That's where Apple's heart and soul and DNA are. But these consumers want to use Macs. Now they've developed Bootcamp, can use that 1 Windows program, insurance. Spurred VM Ware, Parallels. Latest Mac OS, Snow Leopard, Exchange support built right in, just works. That's why you see current survey results.
• Apple Retail started in 2001, at it for 9 years. Just short of 300 stores. Apple serious about Retail. 25-50 stores a year. They been at low end of expansion, high end. 2008 world economy began falling apart. Apple slowed down, looked for opportunities for top properties. Now there's a lot of great properties, Apple wants to take advantage, turned dial up, be at high end again, do 50.
• Apple has for years been in silicon design business. PowerPC, Apple always personally crafted Northbridge, Southbridge. Not new. Looked at products they're doing like iPad, future products, felt Apple had best knowledge of what they wanted silicon to do, best ability to deliver themselves (vs. going out and buying not exactly what they wanted). In mobile device world, tremendous parameters other than silicon, thermal characteristic very important. End of the day, they want to make world's best products. [A4] makes them more likely to do that.
• Apple acquires companies for technology and talent, on small side. Have looked at large companies but not had large companies but not path. Don't let money burn hole in their pocket. Unless it makes sense for shareholders, not going to do it. Small companies have been incredibly valuable. Especially talent. Will continue to do that. Find large on, not shy about it, but won't do it to do it. Never been about being biggest, always about making best products. Not highest marketshare or revenue.
• Executive team at Apple spends lot of time thinking and discussing how to retain and recruit best talent in world. People are most important asset by far. People deliver innovation. Key to Apple.
• Apple is most focused company Cook knows of, has read of, has any knowledge of. Says "no" to good ideas, great ideas every day to retain focus on small number of things. Can keep enormous energy behind things they do choose, deliver best products in the world. Table they're sitting at, probably put every product on it Apple makes, yet Apple revenue last year near 40 billion. Only oil company could say that. Not from just saying "yes" to right product, it's saying "no" to many good ideas just not nearly good as other ones. So ingrained in company, hubris which happens to successful companies that decide to get bigger, start adding things, management team at Apple would never let that happen. Not what they're about. Focus on people, ensuring small list of things to work on, put everything behind that, that's Apple's magic.

During Apple's Q1 2010 conference call yesterday, Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook came to AT&T's defense when questioned about whether or not poor public perception of the exclusive iPhone carrier was hurting Apple's brand.

Despite increasing iTablet and iPhone on Verizon rumors, Cook said that AT&T has to deal with higher broadband (3G) usage than any other carrier, and still provides a "great experience" for many of their customers. Furthermore, Cook said AT&T had admitted to problems in certain areas (such as New York City), had come up with plans on fixing those problems, and had shared those plans with Apple.

This is in contrast to Apple Senior Vice-President of iPhone Software, Scott Forstall sounded last year at WWDC 2009 when he introduced MMS and tethering features as part of iPhone 3.0, and clarified that AT&T would not be supporting either initially (and still doesn't support tethering at all).

According to Silicon Valley Insider and a anonymous tipster, Apple COO Tim Cook may be leaving Apple to take the spot of CEO at General Motors.

"[Interim GM CEO Edward E. Whitacre] wants the candidate to come from a company known for operational excellence, innovation and customer satisfaction and in addition he is looking for someone that has turnaround experience. It also doesn't hurt that [Tim] has been able to work with Jobs. Whitacre does want to stay on as Chairman. Also, Cook has been the key link to AT&T and should understand the culture that Whitacre, [a former AT&T CEO] built."

Of course this information is coming from an unknown source and should be taken with a Hummer-sized grain of salt, but it does make sense that GM would be going after Cook as they need all the help they can get. But if you consider how well of a job Cook did stepping in for Steve Jobs during his medical leave and then throw in the fact Cook made a cool 12 million in doing so... we'd have to say he is next in line to take over as CEO of Apple when Steve decides to step down. Would you trade that for GM?

So again, this is all speculation but we will keep you informed if anything else does turn up.

[Via Silicon Valley Insider]

During Apple's Q4 2009 financial results conference call today, when asked about competitive smartphone platforms and devices, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook responded:

Frankly, they are really just trying to catch up with the 1st iPhone that was announced 2 years ago

While many will no doubt argue -- perhaps laugh outright -- at that, it's harder to laugh at Apple's results to date: 7.2 million more iPhones sold in the last 3 months, and half-a-billion more App Store downloads during the same period.

So was Cook just showing his swagger, setting himself up for a big takedown, or comfortably settling into a combined iPhone/iTunes/App Store offering his thinks will be tough to beat in the consumer market?

Also covered on today's Apple Q2 2009 financial results call were Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook's description of netbooks, as currently on the market, having:

cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens, and just not a consumer experience… that we would put the Mac brand on, quite frankly.

So where does that put all the rumors about an Apple netbook being all but imminent? Either once again shoved on the back burner like the iPhone nano, or -- really imminent. (Apple has a history of trash talking product spaces and denying interest right up until they launch their own offering, like video on iPods, or, you know, smartphones).

Does this mean we'll more likely see an Apple tablet? Mac OS X or iPhone OS X based? Opinions vary but Cook gave nothing away. Instead, to costumers who might want mobile web and email, he offered this advice:

They might want to look at an iPhone or iPod touch instead.

Okay, so I'll admit that I leave my laptop at home now and just use an iPhone far more often than I ever would have guessed I would, but as a full on mobile replacement? Is it really there yet?

And what do you see, if anything, as Apple's now near-mythical entry into the pseudo-netbook space? One of the above, or something else entirely?

Apple COO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Openheimer, and Marketing VP Phil Schiller gave an analyst briefing recently, according to Barron's, which said, among other things:

• The trio was “most bullish about the iPhone business,” seeing a chance to gain share, with its software as the principal differentiator.
• In iPods, Apple is pushing the iTouch, which benefits from its ties to the App Store.
• Sacconaghi says the company does not appear to be pursuing his idea of an “iPhone Nano,” and that any new phones will likely include both a browser and ties to the App Store.
• Apple said “emphatically” that it did not believe in fixed keypads for phones, since the touch screen provided more flexibility for alternative keypads and for various App Store offerings, and that it is portable across geographies and languages, providing significant scale economics.

So there we have it, software is king, the nano is a no-no, and the hard keyboard just ain't happening.

(Thanks to The Reptile for sending this in!)

Also touched on briefly during Apple's Q1 conference call yesterday was the prospect of a low-end iPhone, and Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was quick to dispel hopes of that (and of an iPhone nano?) as well (text via Macworld):

Tim: We're not going to build a low-end voice phone. Our objective is not to be unit share leader, it's to build the world's best phone.

Interestingly, however, Apple is still pondering what to do about unsubsidized markets (where, unlike AT&T, the carriers don't foot part of the phone cost, making it initially much more expensive for buyers):

Largest example is India. Sales less in non-subsidized markets, obviously. Huge market opportunities and will make adjustments in future to play in a stronger way.

So what does this mean? No iPhone nano or iPod with phone features bolted on, it seems. But how will Apple increase sales in those non-subsidized countries? a 4GB SKU? Or when the iPhone hits 32GB, will the 8GB become a special SKU for those markets? Maybe if we get an iPhone HD this summer, the 3G itself will become that SKU?

The again, Apple is famous for denying (even bashing) things until the moment they release them...

Our forums are weighing in, so head on over there and let us know what you think!

[Updated following Phone Different Podcast #19, see below!]

Way back in February, Apple's Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook said:

"We're not married to any business model."

At the time -- and it's scary how long ago it seems already -- the iPhone was only available in the US, UK, Germany, and France, with rumors of Ireland and Austria waiting in the wings. What's more, these were all exclusive deals, with Apple doing their best to lock the iPhone down to single carriers in each territory in exchange for lucrative -- and unprecedented -- revenue-sharing deals that some have estimated could be netting Apple up to $15 per month, per subscriber.

So, with a potential billion dollars on the table, while they weren't married to it, they no doubt felt more than a little lusty.

But in true Apple fashion, invoking perhaps the pirate mantra of old, and embracing the same mindset that has them run iTunes as a near-loss leader, price-cut the iPhone a scant few months in, and offer cheap family upgrade options on their OS and iApps, it looks like Tim Cook was serious.

Read on to find out just how serious he was...

Late April brought rumblings of carrier "discounts" in Europe. Apple claimed carriers could charge what they wanted. Pundits on various sides pointed to clearing stock in the face impending 3G, or desperation to nudge thus-far-disappointing sales.

Then the floodgates opened. Literally. What had been a scant 5 countries with official first generation iPhone deals, became a torrent of announcements, week after week, of dozens upon dozens more. Canada. Australasia. Africa. Latin America. The Middle East. Scandinavia and the Baltics. And more. Double, triple, quadruple, the numbers became near-exponential.

The strange part? Multiple carriers began announcing iPhone deals in the same countries or territories. Vodafone and Telecom Italia both claimed Italy in early May.

Carrier exclusivity was gone.

No doubt at Apple's behest, press releases were short to the point of single sentences at times, all with the promise of more details to follow, but Orange did let slip that there would now be non-exclusive deals (where no carrier had the sole rights to the iPhone and any GSM provider could theoretically support it), and co-exclusivity (where two or more carriers had sole rights and only they could officially support it).

Orange didn't stop there either. Rumor has it they are now calling up existing iPhone customers and offering them €50 upgrade paths to the next generation iPhone 3G. Talk about a subsidy!

So why, with so much money at stake -- and let's face it, cachet -- are Tim Cook's words suddenly ringing so loudly?

Steve Jobs has said that one of Apple's greatest failings during his absence was that other leadership chose to grab for money rather than grow market share. And Steve Jobs is known to think about products and positioning years into the future.

Our own Dieter Bohn has teased some of his thoughts on this, and promises to follow up on the next Phone Different Podcast. Don't miss it.

UPDATE: Dieter, having brainstormed with another one of our writers, Chad Garrett, is offering the following: Given the massive amount of carriers now announced for the iPhone 3G, managing activation via iTunes may get a lot tricker... unless Apple offers the iPhone unlocked, and iTunes simply provides a way to connect to one of the established carriers in exchange for a subsidy, or -- dream of all dreams -- lets you keep running unlocked if you're willing to forgo said subsidy. How's that for a new business model?

For my part, I'll mention this again:

Apple is alone among modern technology companies in enjoying near spherical integration. They make the iPhone hardware. They develop its software. They provide .Mac services. They market pro-level content creation tools. They own the high-end computer market that runs those -- and the developer -- tools. They sell content via the #1 music retailer in the US, iTunes. They have a toe in the accessory business with a headset, docks, cables, etc. They license 3rd party accessories. They get revenue sharing on subscriptions from current carriers. They are about to launch an App Store, getting a cut of commercial sales in exchange for putting product in front of every single iPhone user on the planet. They have an international online store, and their growing chain of retail Apple Stores make more per square foot than Tiffany's.

So, unlike many others who have to survive on platform licenses, hardware margins, service contracts, or any other single or small number of profit streams, Apple can choose to take hits in multiple streams (like revenue sharing) and still earn money hand over fist in many, many others.

In short, Apple isn't married to any specific business model because they can afford not to be. And come WWDC in June, and the long expected iPhone 3G announcement with it, Apple's plans may just result in a windfall for consumers as well...

Tom Cook, Chief Operating Officer of a little Cupertino company named Apple, spoke at the Goldman Sachs Investment Symposium, mercilessly teasing the faithful with the following bombs:

• Apple is not "married to any [single carrier exclusive] business model". It's apparently all about the "best phones in the world", baby, and if unlocked, CDMA, and/or pre-paid proved, in the future, to provide the greatest sense of childlike wonder (or complies with future Congressional mandates), Apple could (possibly, maybe) go with that flow.
• Apple believes the global unlocking epidemic is a good sign of the iPhone's potential, and that there will always be a percentage of unlocks in the wild because of the high demand.
• That the upcoming iPhone SDK would allow developers to "only be limited by [their] imagination." (And whatever restrictions Apple imposes on accessing the metal and distributing via iTunes, 'natch).

To the delight of Wall Street, Cook also continued to hold firm on the 10 million iPhone march through the end of 2008.

Check out Apple Insider for all the details.

Is Cook telling us Apple will make good on their promised smart phone utopia? Or Is he just cranking on his own mini Reality Distortion Field? Hit the comments and let us know what you think!