Tim Cook Steps Down As Apple CEO, John Ternus Takes Over Leadership

New Delhi: Apple has entered a new leadership era, with John Ternus taking over as chief executive officer from Tim Cook, who led the US technology giant for 15 years.

Ternus assumed the CEO role effective September 1, ending Cook's tenure at the helm that began in August 2011 after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs stepped down.

Cook has moved into the newly created position of executive chairman. In his new role, he will focus on engagement with global policymakers while continuing to assist Apple on select matters. Ternus has also joined Apple's board of directors.

Who Is John Ternus?

Ternus joined Apple's product design team in 2001 and was appointed senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021.

During his time at Apple, he has overseen hardware engineering across the company's product portfolio and played an important role in developing products including the iPhone, iPad, AirPods and Mac.

His team most recently worked on the ultrathin iPhone Air and the new MacBook Neo.

Cook had earlier described Ternus as having “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator and the heart to lead with integrity.”

Cook Leaves Behind a Bigger Apple

Apple underwent a major expansion during Cook's leadership. Its market capitalisation increased from around $350 billion when he took charge to roughly $4 trillion.

Annual revenue also grew from about $108 billion in 2011 to more than $400 billion.

Apple's services business emerged as another major growth engine, generating more than $100 billion annually from offerings including the App Store, Apple Music and Apple Pay.

AI Challenge Awaits Ternus

Ternus takes charge at a crucial time as artificial intelligence reshapes the global technology industry.

Accelerating Apple's AI strategy while protecting its tightly integrated hardware, software and services ecosystem will be among the biggest challenges facing the new CEO.