Apple received an unwanted spotlight last week when President Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, attacked CEO Tim Cook for not moving manufacturing out of China fast enough. In fact, having received similar pressure during Trump’s first term, Apple, in terms of what it sells in the U.S., now makes most iPhones in India and most laptops, AirPods, and other devices in Vietnam. Furthermore, Cook has committed over $500 billion to new U.S. manufacturing facilities and design centers that will employ about 20,000 Americans.
Nevertheless, by late last week attention had quickly shifted to Cook’s tenure as CEO.
Part of this may be seasonal. There is often debate during the hot midsummer months—after annual shareholder meetings—over whether CEO is turnover increasing or decreasing. CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla has said that one factor behind this is an effort to create headlines during the “tape slump” of major business news. He suggested this behavior was behind a recent report by respected analysts Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone at Lightshed calling for Apple to consider replacing Cook amidst Apple’s struggles with artificial intelligence.
We believe that such short-sighted attacks on an icon of American industry could not be more misguided. Cook’s leadership is still critically needed at Apple.
