It has been 10 years since Tim Cook became the CEO of Apple following the passing of Steve Jobs. Since then, Cook has made Apple one of the most valuable companies in the world and has successfully launched multiple products such as the AirPods, new iPads and services. Cook made Apple reach a $1 trillion market cap due to new products that cater to the company’s audience. However, Cook will turn 61 this year which means he won’t be the CEO at Apple forever. 

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According to Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Cook will probably retire from the company by 2025. However, he did point out that Apple will keep him at the helm as long as he wants. Having said that, Cook might be ready to pass the torch. However, before he does that, Gurman says he wants to launch one last product before his retirement. 

“The belief inside Apple is that Cook just wants to stick around for one more major new product category, which is likely to be augmented reality glasses rather than a car — something that’s even further out,” says Gurman. “He also understands that running a Silicon Valley company is typically a young person’s game, and he’s not going to stay far beyond his prime.”

According to Power On, Cook might stick around until the launch of an augmented reality headset or something along the same lines. Rumours of a mixed-reality or an augmented reality headset by Apple have been floating for years. While we won’t see the launch of AR glasses this year, it could be possible that Apple might launch the device by 2022. 

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It wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that Tim Cook might think of retiring after launching Apple’s next big product for the world. However, these are still based on rumours and Cook may stick around for even longer if he wants to. There’s no saying when Tim Cook might retire from his position at Apple but Power On has already started to speculate on people who might replace the current CEO. 

According to Gurman, these four people currently at Apple have a good chance of replacing Tim Cook as CEO once he retires:

Jeff Williams – Chief Operating OfficerGreg Joswiak – Senior Vice President, Worldwide MarketingDeirdre O’Brien – Senior Vice President, Retail + PeopleJohn Ternus – Senior Vice President, Hardware Engineering

It is estimated that Tim Cook might retire anywhere between 2025-2028. However, until then, the company continues to dominate the smartphone, tablet, wearables and services market for now. 

Source: Bloomberg/Power On

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