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CNN
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Two research analysts made waves last week when they called for a major shakeup at tech giant Apple.
The analysts weren’t suggesting a logo or product redesign. Instead, they called for the replacement of Tim Cook, the CEO who directly succeeded Steve Jobs in 2011 and helped catapult the company to its $3 trillion valuation.
Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone of LightShed Partners, a New York-based technology, media and telecommunications research firm, are questioning whether Cook is still the right person to lead one of the world’s most valuable companies amid concerns that it’s fallen behind in AI — a technology that’s already disrupting work, education and other facets of everyday life. Apple has already faced pressure to come up with a new hit product as sales of smartphones, Apple’s biggest revenue driver, have slowed across the industry.
“Apple now needs a product-focused CEO, not one centered on logistics,” the pair wrote on July 9.
Replacing Cook would be a high-stakes move for Apple; the company is already undergoing leadership changes elsewhere in the C-suite, and changing CEOs could further pull focus away from running Apple’s core business. Cook is also widely supported by Apple’s board and has “staying power akin to other captains of industry” such as Disney’s Bob Iger and JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, reports Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has long tracked Apple’s business strategy.
There’s no evidence to indicate Cook is going anywhere soon. Shares of Apple (AAPL) have skyrocketed under Cook’s tenure, during which he’s also built other lucrative products after the iPhone’s success — such as smartwatches, earbuds and digital services.
To be sure, the LightShed note is just one take in a crowded field of analysts and researchers who follow Apple’s business. But it is perhaps an indication that Apple’s AI setbacks are bigger than a standard product delay — to some, they’re shaking confidence in Apple’s ability to innovate. And Piecyk and Galone aren’t the only ones questioning whether Apple needs fresh leadership.
“He’s a supply chain guy. They need a tech visionary,” said Ted Mortonson, managing director and technology sector strategist at financial services company Baird. “I think they’re in a lot more trouble than some people think.”
Apple did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Apple has grappled with a litany of challenges so far in 2025, among them: President Donald Trump’s tariff threats; fresh restrictions from the European Union on how it runs its valuable App Store; and a federal judge allowing an antitrust lawsuit alleging it has monopolized the smartphone market to proceed.
But concerns about the iPhone maker’s slow progress in AI have been front and center.
The company in March said it’s delaying a long-awaited update to Siri that would have enabled it to answer more complex questions with personalized answers and handle tasks on a user’s behalf. That type of change would bring Siri closer to more modern AI agents like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
The company hasn’t said much about when the revamped Siri will arrive aside from needing “more time to reach our high-quality bar,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said in June at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
The concern is broader than Siri alone, it’s that Apple doesn’t seem to have much to show for its AI efforts so far, Creative Strategies CEO and principal analyst Ben Bajarin told CNN earlier this year. Apple has shaken up its AI leadership in an effort to accelerate its efforts in the space, according to Bloomberg.
Apple Intelligence, which arrived in 2024 following the iPhone 16’s September launch, includes tools that can summarize notifications, transcribe phone calls, erase objects in photos, and use an iPhone’s camera to search Google or prompt ChatGPT and create images.
Although Apple delayed the Siri update, it did announce a batch of new AI features coming this fall, including live-language translation, AI-generated workout insights for the Apple Watch and enhancements to existing features.
But many of these upgrades are Apple playing catch-up to tools already offered by other tech companies, and may not be enough to position Apple as a leader.
“(Cook) has done a great job of getting Apple to where it is, but the environment certainly has changed,” said Thomas Martin, partner and senior portfolio manager at investment firm Globalt. “They are really struggling on the AI front. It’s a different animal, because AI is software, and Apple is traditionally almost exclusively hardware.”
Under Cook’s watch, other high-profile products or projects have fallen short of expectations in recent years.
Last year, Apple launched the $3,500 Vision Pro headset, heralding it as the future of computing. But more than a year on, it remains a niche, novelty device as some of Apple’s competitors are moving ahead with more stylish and practical augmented reality glasses.
Also in 2024, Apple reportedly ended a decade-long effort to build an electric car, known internally as Project Titan, pulling the plug on what was believed to be an ambitious, expensive endeavor.
Apple has made other significant changes to its leadership. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri was replaced at the start of 2025, although he remains vice president of corporate services according to Apple’s website. And the company announced that longtime Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams will leave the post this month and retire this year.
Cook, 64, has been Apple’s CEO for nearly 14 years and is widely respected for his operational acumen. He stepped out of the shadow of one of America’s most iconic CEOs, Steve Jobs, and built a global supply chain and ecosystem of products and services that maintained Apple’s place as one of the world’s most valuable companies.
He also carved out an important role for Apple in the digital health space with the Apple Watch, which was introduced in 2014 and was the first major new product launched under Cook’s tenure. Apple is now a market leader in wearable technology, which includes both the Apple Watch and other devices like its AirPods — it claimed nearly a quarter of the global market for wearables as of the fourth quarter of 2024, according to market research firm the International Data Corporation.
Under Cook’s leadership, Apple’s market cap went from just over $342 billion in August 2011 to roughly $3 trillion today. Even the two LightShed Partners analysts have acknowledged that Cook has done “a great job.”
“To be clear, Tim Cook was the right CEO at the time of his appointment and unquestionably has done a great job,” the analysts wrote.
And further change to Apple’s executive ranks might hinder their efforts to expand in AI.
In pictures: Apple CEO Tim Cook
“I think the last thing you want to do is further rock the boat by putting Tim Cook’s job on the line,” said CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino. “I don’t think Apple would even consider doing that.”
He added that while it’s clear Apple isn’t moving fast enough in AI, “getting rid of Tim Cook” may not be the answer.
Instead, the company could address its AI challenges with an acquisition — the company has reportedly discussed buying AI startup Perplexity — or by deepening its partnership with OpenAI, or following in Meta’s footsteps by investing more heavily in top talent, Zino said.
It’s rare for any company to keep a CEO for more than 10 years, says William Klepper, academic director in executive education at Columbia Business School and author of the book “The CEO’s Boss: Tough Love in the Boardroom.”
“Organizations go up and down, right? It’s just this nature of what we call the cycle of business,” he said. “And where they are now is in what I would call kind of a static state.”
Keppler notes that the 10-year time frame isn’t random. It usually coincides with a major disruptor that alters a company’s business model, which in this case is AI. During those periods of change, companies like Apple need to support their core business while simultaneously adapting to what is coming next.
“From my research and my model, you need a change agent … because you got to start a second wave,” he said. “You can’t stay in an executive leadership role when you’re at a point of inflection and need to change.”
Companies usually install new CEOs for three reasons: in response to a scandal, to fix a crisis or over a loss of trust and competence, says Sandra Sucher, professor of management practice at Harvard Business School. None of those scenarios apply to Cook or Apple.
But one thing’s clear: Pressure is mounting on Apple to figure it out –— and fast.
“Do we have an Intel-ing of Apple?” said Martin, referring to the once-leading American chipmaker that fell far behind rivals like Nvidia and AMD after missing several major technology waves.
“That would be so sad.”
