Apple needs a new CEO to survive the high-stakes AI race, analysts warn
While Tim Cook, Apple's current chief executive, has brought operational expertise to the top job, the iPhone-maker currently needs a product-focused CEO, according to LightShed partners analysts Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone.
'To be clear, Tim Cook was the right CEO at the time of his appointment and unquestionably has done a great job. Apple has sold over $2.0 trillion of iPhones with Cook as CEO. In fact, iPhone sales could show signs of life this quarter, as tariff-related pull-forwards help stabilize replacement cycles that may finally be bottoming out,' the analysts wrote on Wednesday, July 9, according to a report by Market Watch.
But they questioned whether Apple can deliver a wave of new AI features and upgrades with Cook still at the helm. 'AI will reshape industries across the global economy, and Apple risks becoming one of its casualties,' they said. The note was published a day after Apple announced that its chief operating officer, Jeff Williams, will retire soon. The company has named India-born Sabih Khan as Williams' successor.
Khan has been with Apple since 1995 and is widely credited with transforming the company's global supply chain. Since 2019, he has led Apple's operations team, overseeing manufacturing, supplier responsibility, and environmental sustainability initiatives across the globe. He was the company's senior vice president of operations before the promotion. As COO, he will now be number two in the big tech company, below Cook.
While the elevation of an executive already working within the company's leadership ranks signals stability, the LightShed analysts have argued that Apple needs bold changes at the moment.
This is because Apple is widely perceived to be struggling to keep pace in the high-stakes AI race. Apple Intelligence features have run into snafus, and its AI-enabled Siri has been delayed by more than a year as the company reportedly ran into technical challenges.
The Cupertino-based tech giant had teased a smarter personalised assistant at the 2024 WWDC developer conference, with promised features boosting the ability for Siri to understand the context of conversations.
The LightShed team said that calling the Siri delay 'simply a case of overpromising and underdelivering' would be overly generous. 'Apple was nowhere with AI then, and little has changed since,' they said.
'AI will reshape industries across the global economy, and Apple risks becoming one of its casualties. […] Missing on AI could fundamentally alter the company's long-term trajectory and ability to grow at all,' the analysts added.
Last week, Ruoming Pang, a renowned engineer who was reportedly overlooking the development of foundational AI models at Apple, left to join Meta's artificial superintelligence unit. At the start of 2025, Kevan Parekh assumed the office of chief financial officer, succeeding Luca Maestri.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Happy with progress in bilateral initiatives: EAM to Singapore Deputy PM
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said he was glad to note the steady progress" in various bilateral initiatives with Singapore as he met Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong here. Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Singapore and China. Good to catch-up with Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, Jaishankar said in a social media post, and added that he was glad to note the steady progress in various bilateral initiatives. The external affairs minister also said that he looked forward to the 3rd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR). Earlier in the day, Jaishankar met his counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan and said, Singapore is at the heart of our Act East Policy. Always insightful to exchange views there. Posting about the meeting on X, Balakrishnan said, "As the world inexorably transitions into multipolarity, India will play an increasingly important role as one of these major poles of opportunity." He also said he looked forward to seeing Jaishanakar in New Delhi for the 3rd ISMR. The inaugural meeting of the ISMR took place in New Delhi in September 2022 while the second round of ISMR was held in Singapore in August last year. Jaishankar also met Chairman-designate of Temasek Holdings Teo Chee Hean, during which they discussed the investment opportunities in India. Following his Singapore visit, Jaishankar will travel to China to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin. It would be Jaishankar's first visit to China after the ties between the two countries came under severe strain following the 2020 military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
"Digital Version Of Hoarding": Husband Baffled After Wife Opens Over 500 Tabs On Phone
A baffled husband has revealed that his wife opens over 500 tabs on her phone and even has a workaround for the limit, leaving social media users perplexed over the 'digital version of hoarding'. Ryan Briggs, a social scientist and associate professor at the University of Guelph in Canada, shared the surprising discovery on X (formerly Twitter) when he found his wife private browsing not for secrecy, but to bypass Safari's 500-tab limit. "I asked my wife why she was in private browsing mode on her phone and she explained that Safari only allows 500 tabs in regular mode so she had to switch. You think you know a person," Mr Briggs wrote. I asked my wife why she was in private browsing mode on her phone and she explained that Safari only allows 500 tabs in regular mode so she had to switch. You think you know a person — Ryan Briggs (@ryancbriggs) July 12, 2025 The post quickly went viral, garnering over 5.6 million views as of the last update -- sparking a wave of relatable confessions and humorous reactions. "I purge my tabs when it's >5. How do people live like that?" said one user while another added: "500 open tabs and a backup plan just to keep surfing. You spend years thinking you know someone's quirks, and then you find out they're a digital hoarder with a workaround for everything." A third commented: "Show her how to move it to a new tab group. you can have infinite 500 tab groups." A fourth said: "The replies and confessions under this…is anyone studying what the digital version of hoarding is? that can be the only explanation to this." the replies and confessions under this… is anyone studying what the digital version of hoarding is? that can be the only explanation to this 😭 — kate 🪐 (@cosmicraays) July 12, 2025 Though Safari is optimised for Apple devices and can efficiently handle tabs by suspending inactive ones, opening too many can still impact performance. The device may slow down, and your battery life could take a hit, especially on older Macs. Too many tabs The point of tabs is to compartmentalise a portion of the internet that a user is surfing so that they can return to it whenever they feel like. However, opening too many tabs can make it harder to locate the information you are looking for quickly. The time wasted in switching tabs could slow down your output, resulting in a loss of productivity. While not the biggest issue, too many tabs take up memory, slowing down your computer and making the whole experience even more frustrating.
India.com
2 hours ago
- India.com
Modi govt's plan B to counter China's arrogance revealed! Chinese engineers' exit won't affect iPhone 17 manufacturing in India because...
Representational Image The Indian government is actively monitoring the iPhone manufacturing in the country, and has expressed confidence that the exit of 300 Chinese engineers from Foxconn iPhone plants in India will not affect the production of Apple's flagship device, including the upcoming iPhone 17 series. Why Indian govt called it an 'opportunity'? Media reports citing government sources said the Centre is keeping a close eye on the matter, and is confident that Apple is capable of dealing with the situation. A senior official from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) said the matter was directly between Apple and Foxconn, and termed it as an 'opportunity'. 'I would look at it more as an opportunity. If the workers want to go back, it's between the company and the workers. They will have to make arrangements to ensure the work continues — production won't be impacted. We facilitated their visas'. The official noted that Apple has alternatives but the primary responsibility lies with the company (Apple) to ensure that the manufacturer doesn't impact production. What was the job of Chinese engineers who went back? According to reports, the 300 Chinese engineers who were recalled by Beijing, were responsible designing the factory, handling the assembly line and training employees. The Indian government said it was monitoring the production capacity of Foxconn, one of the few companies part of the Narendra Modi government's PLI scheme. Its must be noted that China is a global manufacturing and industrial powerhouses, and most of the equipment required to assemble mobile phones comes from there. These machines require specialized training to operate, which is usually imparted by Chinese experts who work for the manufacturer of these devices. How India plans to boost iPhone manufacturing? While a decade ago, iPhone manufacturing in India was practically negligible Apple began to assemble iPhones in the country from 2017 with newer models now being manufactured at Indian plants. Apple is strengthening its footprint in India as it proves to be a key market with its high population and rapidly growing economy. Foxconn operates iPhone manufacturing plants in India's southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana, and its estimated that iPhones worth $14 billion, were assembled in India in the 2024-25 fiscal year, which means that one out of seven iPhones sold across the world carries a 'Made in India' tag. The Union government has launched the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme which is expected to attract gadget making moguls other than Apple, to establish their presence in the country. Two flagship stores were launched by Apple in Mumbai and Delhi in 2023 and Apple indicated that they are now planning to open four more retail stores in Bengaluru, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai.
