Stop it! Tim Cook is NOT failing on innovation
I am not an Apple fanboy. I own all sorts of technology including an iPhone, and Android tablet, a Windows phone, a PC and Mac. I am not hypnotized by Apple ads and have never bought an I love Steve Jobs t-shirt. I invest in stocks like Apple for a very simple reason: I believe the current and expected future cash flow suggests the shares will rise.
Tim Cook is doing a good job. Apple is still a company based on innovation despite the transition from Steve Jobs. There is a team in place at Apple that I believe will prove to the world that Apple is not a stagnant company.
I believe conclusions otherwise are premature and not reasonable. Concerns about the future are justified but conclusions based on unknown future events is foolhardy.
There are those who worship this company, Steve Jobs, and all this firm stands for but I take a more pragmatic view. Apple is a corporation; it's that simple. They make products and reap profit; it's not the rescuer of corporate America and it certainly has made its share of mistakes. Mistakes occurred on Steve Jobs watch, John Sculley's reign, again during Steve Jobs second coming, and the same will occur with Tim Cook as CEO. It's just a company trying to do its best to capture market share and generate profits.
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Steve Jobs was, and is, a mythical figure. The "reality distortion field" so often mentioned when discussing Jobs was an astounding skill. He possessed the ability to make tongues wag regardless of whether it was justified or not. I suppose inspirational leadership is all about persuasion and this was a rare gift that Steve Jobs possessed. Truth be told, there will never be another like him.
With sky-high expectations, the torch has been handed over to a new set of leaders at Apple led by Tim Cook. The pundits and the critics say Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs. Tim Cook has no vision. Tim Cook is simply an operator and not a leader. I could not disagree more. This is a rash position to take. Here's why Tim Cook deserves a little credit rather than the constant second-guessing he receives from naysayers.
I believe innovation is not dead at Apple. Just because no new product categories have been released during Tim Cook's tenure does not mean that products would have been released if Steve jobs were still alive today. In fact, it takes Apple quite some time to really decide on what iteration they want released to the public. Isn't that what Steve Jobs did with Apple TV?
As new products are developed, Apple generally upgrades products with faster processors, cheaper price points, etc/ until these next product categories are introduced. That's exactly what is occurring now and it's exactly what would've have occurred if Steve Jobs was alive today. And by the way, that's how Apple made $10 billion in profit just this last quarter. $10 billion!
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Who knows what the next batch of products will be. But I can tell you that based on my discussions with current and former Apple employees, as well as contacts in the industry who are either suppliers of Apple or have knowledge of other activities, there are plenty of innovative items to come. Whether it's the iWatch, a larger iPhone, a phablet, or a new Apple TV, products are coming. Do I know for a fact these products are coming? No, but I suspect they are. We can't see them now and that means that some see their opportunity to say Apple is a dying company even though they sold 44 million iPhones as reported in the most recent earnings call. When did a company selling 44 million phones in one quarter become a fading player? Unbelievable.
The skeptics also fail to talk about innovation from a corporate standpoint that Tim Cook has put in place since he's become CEO. Charity now is a meaningful activity for the company and is supported by Apple with matching funds. There are green initiatives that of been put in place including the newly announced recycle program. Apple's data farms are rumored to be hugely efficient centers that will not only help generate profits for Apple but be environmentally friendly. Labor practices certainly are no worse than they were under Steve Jobs and there have been additional efforts to make sure that workers are not exploited as products are manufactured in other countries. In fact, some manufacturing is now occurring on a limited basis in the United States. Aren't these evolutions positive?
Tim Cook may not be the pinnacle of excitement at Apple but he certainly does have brilliant technologists and designers such as Jony Ive on board working on new products. If you've noticed during the latest corporate presentations, there are more parties moving into the public eye rather than the sole focus being on the CEO. Tim Cook doesn't generate the kind of buzz that Steve Jobs did but clearly recognizes that there are capable people at Apple.
That's called utilizing your team. And that's a good thing.
There does seem to be accountability in place and a recognition that corporate culture matters. When Apple maps rolled out (disastrously so), heads rolled just as they did under Steve Jobs when the antennae issue for the iPhone became a problem. Accountability includes replacing parties that have not acted in a way that best reflects Apple's perspective. Rumors are that when high level personnel changes took place over the last couple years, there was relief throughout the workplace that brilliance and expertise was not enough to overcome boorish behavior.
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So, when it comes to projecting Apple's future ability to innovate, remember this: It's not as if, since Steve Jobs died, there are a bunch of idiots sitting at Apple that have absolutely no clue what the marketplace looks like or the kind of products consumers want or need.
I find it ridiculous to make a judgment about a company with a P/E ratio of 13, with massive cash in the bank, that sold 44 million iPhones, to consider that company washed up. Here's the test: Would the board at Samsung snap their fingers in a second and trade places with Apple? I bet they would in a heartbeat. That should tell you something right there.
Commentary by Michael A. Yoshikami, the CEO and founder of Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California. He is also a CNBC contributor.