Tim Cook stepped down as Apple's chief executive effective the 31st of last month, ending a tenure that began in 2011. During his time at the helm, Apple's share price rose more than 2,000% and the company sold 3.1 billion iPhones. Cook is credited with strengthening Apple's ecosystem and improving profitability, though the company's heavy reliance on China is seen as a weak point.
In an article titled "Tim Cook's Apple legacy in numbers," the Financial Times said Cook, who succeeded former CEO Steve Jobs, took on a role that no one could fill and filled it superbly. Apple's stock climbed more than 2,000% under Cook, and its weighting in the S&P 500 more than doubled to 7% from 3%.
The company returned more than $1 trillion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends, while its workforce grew to 166,000 from about 60,000. Apple now operates 535 stores across 27 countries and regions.
iPhone sales also expanded sharply. Apple shipped 3.1 billion iPhones during Cook's tenure, according to research firm IDC — enough to stretch from the Earth to the moon if laid end to end.
Cook also launched five new product lines, introducing the Apple Watch and AirPods. The HomePod and Vision Pro carved out niche markets. Apple's in-house car development project was shut down in 2024.
The FT said Cook's hardware achievements lie in areas that are not visible, noting in particular that by designing Apple's own chips instead of using processors from outside suppliers such as Intel, he lifted the company's margins to about 50% now from roughly 40% in 2011.
The services business also grew. Cook transformed Apple from a hardware-centered company into one spanning services including Apple Pay, iCloud, the App Store and Apple Music. Paid subscriptions now total 1.5 billion.
Apple's Limit Is Its Reliance on China
Apple's deep dependence on China remains a challenge. When U.S. President Donald Trump announced worldwide tariffs in April, $638 billion (about 874 trillion won) in Apple's market value evaporated in just three days. Analysts said the drop laid bare the geopolitical risk facing a company heavily reliant on Chinese supply chains. Cook has at times appeared to accommodate the Chinese government's political demands, including removing international news apps from the App Store. He also drew criticism for lobbying U.S. politicians to allow Chinese memory chips in Apple products when memory supplies tightened.
Cook shared personal reflections in June while delivering his final keynote address at the Worldwide Developers Conference. He said Apple's ultimate aim had always been to make the best products and enrich people's lives, and that carrying on that mission had been the honor of his lifetime. He added that he genuinely believed the best was yet to come.
He will be succeeded by John Ternus, a former Apple hardware engineer. Cook said he was very pleased to be handing the baton to a wonderful and capable person.
