Steve Jobs has always been considered the heart and soul of Apple. He’s the man that has brought us Apple’s most successful products of the last decade, including the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. He’s been the face of Apple for years, and he’s seen as an industry innovator and pioneer.
Since his third medical leave of absence in January of this year, Jobs has begun to slowly let go of the reins at Apple. He’s still very much in control, but the ‘Age of Jobs’ is drawing to an end.
In his days as acting CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs was known for his extensive control and micromanagement of everything that happened at the company. No decision was made without Steve’s approval, and Jobs always made himself intricately involved in daily ongoings. Product launches, like the iPhone and iPad, were always helmed by Jobs.
In Apple’s recent iOS 5, iCloud and OS X Lion event, Jobs made an unnaturally low-key appearance at the keynote. Besides dovetailing the presentation and unveiling iCloud at the end, Jobs let Apple’s other executives take the reins. Phil Schiller handled the business numbers, Scott Forstall introduced iOS 5, and Craig Federighi tackled Lion.
Steve Jobs has been grooming Apple’s execs to take on the daily responsibilities at Apple, and each exec brings a different and beneficial dynamic to the table. As Jobs continues to step out of the limelight, the men he has surrounded himself with will be the ones that steer Apple towards success or failure.
As highlighted by the The Next Web, a new report from the Mercury News tells of how Steve Jobs is no longer “micromanaging” Apple. Instead, he is providing guidance and direction to his team of executives, and, most importantly, to the acting CEO, Tim Cook.
Edible Apple points out a quote from analyst Tim Bajarin, who “talks regularly with upper management at Apple.”
“They tell me he calls in regularly, he talks to Tim, he talks to the top guys, he talks about the Apple Stores,” said Bajarin. “But while he used to micromanage everything in ways that most CEOs would not, right down to issues with the company cafeteria, the big change with his latest leave is that there’s less micromanagment and more management of his executive team and the big-picture issues.”
Another ‘big picture’ strategy of Steve’s is Apple University. Lead by Yale’s former Dean of Management, Joel Podolny, Apple University is an internal project that Jobs hopes will train future Apple employees to run the company in the same way it ran under Jobs’ own control. Essentially, Jobs wants there to be a curriculum for “The Apple Way.”
There were whispers of the Apple board discussing a succession plan for Jobs before Apple’s last earnings call, but the best bet for Jobs’ replacement would be the man currently handling his responsibilities at the company, Tim Cook.
Apple’s stock surged to $400 per share a couple weeks ago, and Jobs recently purposed plans for Apple’s new ‘mothership’ headquarters in Cupertino. As Jobs steps away from the day to day operations at Apple, the new campus will be seen as physical manifestation of his legacy for years to come.
One thing is for certain: There will never be another Steve Jobs.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
41 responses to “Steve Jobs Slowly Beginning to Let Go of the Reins at Apple”
“Reins,” please.
Or “Cease Reigning.”
“One thing is for certain: There will never be another Steve Jobs.”
->
NEVER SAY NEVER
If that Apple univertisty is true… Hell I’m gonna do everything to get in.
I bet they can use some International Lawyer & International relations people.
Where do you guys get this crap? He’s on medical leave. The reason why he was micromanaging on his last leave was the iPad. Reports at that time had said as much. Even Jobs called BS on that article from the WSJ. That story was not coming from the inside of Apple. It was probably coming from either the board, who are always needling Apple execs about this incessantly, or someone manipulating the stock before the earnings call.
There have also been numerous times when Jobs was healthy and he’s handed off the keynote to Forstall and others. I don’t see how his presence was ‘low-key’ considering it was the most important announcement at the event.
I hold no illusions that Jobs will live forever but I wish people would stop trying to push him out the door or guess how sick he is to create a story.
“One thing is for certain: There will never be another Steve Jobs.”
Not until they grow another clone at least. What? You thought his medical leave was for something else?
It will be a sad day when Steve leaves Apple. I think we will all miss him forever
NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO REPLACE STEVE,EVER
that’s just not gonna work,As soon as steve steps down(he never will,Apple paid all it’s cash to doctors so they can make him live forever! and if they didn’t,They Should!!)
the company will fall apart just like the last time,even if the products will be better,apple won’t be the same without steve.
If you think that someone will be able to replace steve,than you don’t know a thing about Apple
Slow news week? Time for another obituary? He’s on medical leave- why micromanage when you’re on a break? The big picture rules, always has for Steve. People overlook that.
I agree. Let’s take it easy on the obituary just yet.
I just paid $22.87 for an iPad 2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic Lumix GF 1 Camera that we got for $38.76 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 40 inch LED TV to my boss for $657 which only cost me $62.81 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, http://to.ly/aRG4
How much for your mother ? $10 ? ok $15, but no more. My dog is lonely and horny tonight.
“One thing is for certain: There will never be another Steve Jobs.”
Maybe it’s bullshit, maybe it isn’t. One thing is for sure: one day, this will come true. Steve Jobs will step down from one of the most amazing companies in the age of computers.
Spam
I just paid $1,200 for my new MBA and I feel like i robbed them!
Maybe it’s crap maybe it isn’t. You’ve seen the poor guy though. The last keynote? I mean, he seemed all out of breath and what not. It’s good that he’s spending it with his family. I hope he gets better.
There’s no other Steve Jobs, you’re right…But the chance for a better, much better one to show off is great too. No one is irreplaceable you know. Who knows what will happen with Apple without him. Maybe the best is simple yet to come.
ooh please the day jobs backs down will happen on one of these days 1.windows get a good os 2. bill gates stops giving to charity 3. rebecca black makes a decent album 4. when we live on the moon so no more please
Jobs isn’t ready for the pine box and Amazing Grace yet, but perhaps he realizes he has surrounded himself with competent people and is taking faith in those he has placed in key positions within Apple. Do I think Jobs is seriously ill? Yes, but I also realize this is a man who has always lived a private life and no one wants to be a show pony when they’re not feeling 100%.
It’s been clear for the past few years that he might be doing this. His health hasn’t been getting any better – which leads one to suspect he can no longer keep up what we can imagine was the gruelling pace he set for himself as CEO. It’s good to know that he’ll be managing the transition.
You also can’t hang on to an exec like Cook who could easily and successfully run (be CEO) for a company Apple’s size – without eventually moving him into the top job. It also explains the senior execs who’ve left – I’m sure they get far less of Steve’s time than they used to – which I propose would weaken their loyalty. Not so for the top guys who right now, as you mention, are probably getting all of his attention.
Good on Steve and good on Apple!
The usual idea is that you would use NFC to set up the link between the two devices and then do an automatic hand over to a different protocol for doing the actual transfer of data – eg Bluetooth,iphone 5