(
)
Among the top orders of business at Apple is ensuring that Steve Jobs’ departure as chief executive is the only major exit from the company.
Even before Apple’s feared leader stepped down Wednesday, there were signs that some of his troops were growing restive.
In recent months, the company has lost several key players, including its retail chief and a top designer.
Regime change often results in disruption, with new leaders looking to install their people and the remnants of the old order fleeing.
But when it comes to new CEO Tim Cook, the focus is on continuity, not change, analysts said.
After 14 years in charge, Jobs stepped down from the day-to-day running of the company, and is taking the role as chairman.
Apple is on top of the tech world, and Cook’s challenge is to keep it that way, said Mark McKechnie, an analyst with ThinkEquity.
“If he [Cook] has anything to prove, it’s that Jobs left the firm in good hands,” McKechnie said. “He has to maintain that innovation machine and engine.”
While no one is talking about a brain drain at Apple, there is the possibility that more executives, including those who were passed over for the top job, will leave.
In June, the company’s retail chief, Ron Johnson, moved on to become the CEO of JC Penney. Johnson helped guide Apple’s mass expansion of stores, which became the envy of the retail world with the highest sales volume per square foot.
While Johnson was wooed away with big pay and a prestigious title, observers note that he left when it became clear Cook was Jobs’ successor and that Johnson didn’t have a shot at taking over.
Cook has been handling day-to-day duties since Jobs went on medical leave in January, his third such absence from the company.
Another key Apple player, Jonathan Ive, who had flirted with jumping ship earlier this year, is in many ways as important to the company as Jobs himself, according to Apple watchers.
Ive is the designer behind the sleek gadgetry that now defines the Cupertino, Calif.-based company from the iPod to iPad.
“You have got to watch him [Ive] and watch him close,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners. “He is a key to the design process. He makes beautiful products.”
Apple also has shed some top marketing and advertising staff since Jobs went on medical leave.
The risk is that other managers might also get the urge to move on now that Jobs is no longer in charge.
Cook is a known entity, having been at Apple for 13 years. And he has been, in many ways, as instrumental as Jobs was in turning Apple into the world’s most valuable tech company. But he hasn’t demonstrated Jobs’ flair.
To be sure, if there are members of the Apple team who are thinking of leaving because of Jobs’ absence, there also are those who are now more inclined to stay.
Aside from being one of history’s most influential and admired innovators, Jobs was a notoriously difficult boss and meticulous micro-manager.
Indeed, some Apple employees felt a sense of relief that he was ceding some control, a source close to the company said.
Cook may or may not rule with a gentler hand. Apple watchers are waiting to see if he will try to make his mark on the company — or simply solidify Jobs’ legacy.