How did Apple become after the departure of Steve Jobs?

Steve Jobs passed away, leaving behind a company at the height of success and optimism, but then differences in visions arose between Joni Ive, director of design, and Tim Cook, CEO, and this eventually led to Eve's departure and a change in the direction of a company that continued to make huge profits, but in modified ways.

And the American newspaper "New York Times" says in this report by writer Clay Shirky that "Apple" launched between 2001 and 2010 a group of products that changed the face of the electronic device market in the world, such as "iPod" and "iPhone", and computers MacBook Air and iPad tablet.

Among these products, the “iPhone” was the most important. Its clear superiority forced the rest of the companies that sell expensive phones to imitate Apple’s design, or face the risk of extinction, which is what Nokia, BlackBerry and Palm have been exposed to, for example. .

By 2010, "Apple" had sealed a remarkable decade, setting records in refurbishing devices more than any other electronics company, and it has not been repeated even in the history of the company itself.

But in early 2011, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who is described as the soul of this company, died, leaving matters in the hands of the duo: Johnny Ive, the British-born designer and scientist, and Tim Cook, who grew up in Alabama and became the mastermind behind the disposal of supply chains and the cost of production.

Writer and New York Times reporter Trip Meckel released a book called "After Steve", covering the careers of Eve and Cook, and how both have changed and the face of the company over the years.

This book traces the development and ending of the partnership between Eve and Cook, based on more than 200 press interviews with former employees and company consultants, as well as information on the two characters.

This was the only option for the author of the book, given that Apple is controlled by the "Omrta culture" (the law of silence) known to the mafia, which prohibits speaking with the press and external parties even when there are disputes.

The writer says that both men contributed to saving Apple from drowning in the nineties, as Eve was early involved in supervising the design of a new production line for computers with distinctive colors and shapes, so that Jobs described that computer as "it looks like it's from another planet, a good planet in it." Better designers.” That was the watershed that saved Apple, and opened the door to further growth.

In 1998, Jobs decided to assign Cook to restructure production lines that were suffering from inefficiency.

This man had previously worked with Compaq, and was known to be very demanding and detail-oriented, and he immediately raised the number of production stage controls from 25 to 100 per year, placing great stress on employees.

Cook was also demanding and awkward with colleagues and outside suppliers, finding the slightest flaw in a product, and talking about it boldly, sometimes bluntly.

Cook was demanding and awkward with colleagues and outside suppliers and discovered even the slightest flaws in the product (French)

But according to the writer, this pursuit of perfection was not enough to create a great new product. After the death of Steve Jobs, clouds of doubt and uncertainty clouded Apple, and everyone wondered about the next product that would dominate the market.

Opinions were divided between automating homes, or developing medical care devices, self-driving cars, televisions or headphones.

But during Eve's remaining tenure at the company, Apple's most focus was on one product, the Apple Watch.

The writer adds that Eve has been a key figure in product design for years, and he was behind spending a lot of money on the Apple Watch, which was supposed to be sold in the luxury category, and it was supplied with leather from Europe, using 18 karat gold alloys.

But with the development of events in the company, it became clear that this watch would not be a new revolution in the world of electronics.

Despite the reduction in the cost and price of their manufacture, and all the advertising that accompanied them, these watches did not achieve the expected sales, and the company entered a negative spiral.

During Eve's work on this project, Cook was also facing his share of difficulties. He was summoned before Congress for questioning about taxes, and had to apologize for the poor performance of Apple Maps, the rival Samsung Galaxy phone was making an amazing rise, and China Mobile became the Chinese company. Interested in selling iPhones?

The author of the book believes that the various successes and shocks that Apple experienced eventually led to its transformation from a company built on the successes of Eve at the beginning of the millennium to a company completely affiliated with Cook in the second decade, and its transformation from a company seeking a new innovation that mimics the iPhone to a service company that achieves increasing profits. A variety of digital services.

Eve then became interested in opportunities outside of Apple, such as museum galleries and charity auctions, and has been working at Apple part-time since the beginning of 2015, and after 4 years in this system, he decided in 2019 to permanently leave.

Observers of the company's situation believe that both men suffered from great pressure due to the inability to release another product as great as the iPhone.

Self-driving cars were very difficult to develop, the medical equipment sector was subject to strict government restrictions, television broadcasting was also subject to strict protection laws, and headphones and watches are marginal products that do not live up to the size of the company's aspirations.

Self-driving cars were very difficult to develop, and the medical equipment sector was subject to strict government restrictions (Al-Jazeera)

The author of the book believes that the summary of this story lies in the continuous differences since the departure of Steve Jobs between strategy and luck, as companies sometimes make history, but not always in the way they want it to.

What happened after the departure of Jobs is a fundamental difference in visions. Cook saw that the most important opportunity for the future of "Apple" is services, such as "iCloud", "Apple Music" and "Apple Store", and that this reality must be adapted.

On the other hand, Eve has been living in the past, looking for a new innovation with the greatness of the iPhone, and thinking about managing the company in the manner of Steve Jobs, at a time when all circumstances have changed.