Tim Cook has been very busy running Apple the past 12 months. There have been a lot of changes and new products that have helped make Apple the most valuable company ever. There have also been a lot of controversies, and headaches along the way. The road hasn’t been all smooth sailing, but we think Tim has done a great job in his first year as CEO of Apple.
Here are eight things that have kept Tim busy in his first year as CEO:
1. The Passing Of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs died just weeks after Tim Cook took his spot as CEO of Apple. Steve’s death was one of the biggest things Tim had to tackle as CEO and he seemed to handle the situation pretty well by hosting a huge Steve Jobs memorial on Apple’s campus. Regarding Jobs’s death, Tim said, “It was absolutely one of the saddest days of my life when Steve passed away. At some point late last year, somebody kind of shook me and said, ‘It’s time to go on.'”
2. Keynotes and Product Launches
Apple has launched a huge arsenal of new products over the past 12 months, and Tim’s been there to help introduce everything from the iPhone 4S to Mountain Lion, with a couple more keynotes left this year.
3. Walks With Important People In Tech
Tim Cook enjoys a good walk. Maybe. I don’t really know him, but it just seems that way because he’s been spotted walking around with a lot of important people in the tech world at places like Sun Valley.
4. Foxconn
2011 and 2012 have been huge years for the Chinese labor conditions controversy. Steve Jobs never talked about Foxconn much, but Tim Cook jumped right into the storm and increased worker wages and visited one of Foxconn’s plants in China.
5. Chatting With The Press
Tim claimed that Apple was going to “double down” on secrecy this year, but that didn’t stop him from meeting with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg at the All Things Digital 10 conference to talk about what it’s like running the most powerful technology company in the world.
6. Business with China
Not only have working conditions at Foxconn been a problem Tim’s had to deal with, but trademark issues in China have caused a few headaches, so Tim went to Beijing to meet with government officials.
7. Suing Samsung
Apple and Samsung have been going at it in the courts all year. Supposedly, Tim Cook and Samsung’s CEO Kwon Oh Hyun have even met a couple of times to try to reach an agreement, but both sides won’t budge.
8. The U.S. Government
Apple’s eBook pricing scheme has come under fire from the U.S. Department of Justice. Apple claims they’ve opened up the market for more companies to compete against Amazon with iBooks, but the DoJ says that Apple’s standardized pricing is illegal. Tim Cook also met with U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner to talk about a possible tax holiday.
