Apple Must Face Rivals Without Its Guru (Video)

The death of Steve Jobs leaves Apple Inc. without its founder and product visionary at a time of heightened competition in the fast-moving cellphone and tablet markets he attacked.

Mr. Jobs's death comes the day after his company's newest iPhone model received a lackluster reception from some analysts and customers.

While Apple has posted record sales of its devices in recent quarters, it is facing competition from new smartphones running Google Inc.'s software as well as Amazon.com Inc.'s recent introduction of the Kindle Fire tablet at less than half the iPad's price.

The spotlight at Apple now shifts to a successor years in the making: Tim Cook. Since officially taking the reins as chief executive six weeks ago, Mr. Cook has won strong reviews for his leadership from many Apple employees.

"So far Tim Cook's move to CEO has been flawless, not surprising given Jobs groomed him for five years to take the role," said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co.

But Mr. Cook must now show Apple can continue to churn out blockbuster products without Mr. Jobs's guidance.

Mr. Cook is known for helping Apple make wise operational and manufacturing choices—such as diversifying the source of memory chips—but not for being the design and product guru.

Shareholders have said they are impressed by how Mr. Cook has stepped into a more public role, and have expressed confidence in his leadership. Apple employees, as well, say he has kept Apple running with a trademark focus on details and polish.

Apple declined to make Mr. Cook available for an interview.

"Tim Cook doesn't need to be Steve Jobs—he needs to be the best Tim Cook he can be," said Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. "Cook understands what he is good at and what he is not good at."

Mr. Cook's next test will come when the company releases earnings on Oct. 18, and gives investors a preview into its expectations for the key holiday shopping quarter.

Speaking at Tuesday's iPhone 4S keynote event, Mr. Cook repeatedly echoed Mr. Jobs, including following a product demo with "It's pretty incredible, isn't it?"

"I love Apple," he said. "I am very excited about this new role."



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