NEW DELHI: Apple on Monday named John Ternus, its vice-president of hardware engineering, as its next chief executive, succeeding Tim Cook. The transition was expected for later this year, but its timing—and Apple’s choice of a hardware leader—comes as artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping Big Tech.
The move signals Apple’s bet that tightly integrated devices will remain central to its strategy, even as rivals push ahead in AI. Mint explains.
Why is Apple changing leadership now?
Cook’s exit comes amid a broader wave of leadership transitions across Silicon Valley, though the moves are not directly related.
Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen said on 12 March that he would step down, followed by Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings on 17 April.
The shifts coincide with a pivotal phase for the tech industry, where AI is beginning to alter long-standing business models. Apple’s succession, however, was long in the works. Ternus, who joined Apple in July 2001 and turns 51 this May, had been widely seen as Cook’s successor.
How did Tim Cook’s tenure fare for Apple?
Cook, who turned 65 last November, joined Apple in March 1998 and became full-time chief in August 2011 after three stints as interim chief during founder Steve Jobs’s battle against cancer.
He is credited with building Apple’s outsourced supply chain in China and now India, and managing ties with governments including China, alongside more recent localization pressures from US president Donald Trump.
When Cook took over, Apple reported $182.8 billion in annual revenue. By fiscal 2025 (October-September), revenue had reached $416.6 billion, with $112 billion in net profit.
Under Cook, Apple became the first company to hit a $1 trillion valuation in 2018, $2 trillion in 2020 and $3 trillion in 2022. Over his tenure, the share price rose from $11.5 when he took over to $273 at US market close on Monday.
What were Cook’s key hits and misses?
The iPhone has remained Apple’s biggest driver, with $209.6 billion in sales in 2025. In July last year, Cook said Apple had sold more than 3 billion iPhones since 2007, with third-party estimates putting over 1.5 billion in active use.
Cook also expanded Apple’s product lineup with Apple Watch in 2015 and AirPods in 2016, and built a services business, which generated $109 billion last fiscal.
The tenure also saw setbacks. In 2024, Apple reportedly discontinued an attempt to build an ‘Apple Car’, and its augmented reality headset, Vision Pro (2023), has been slow to scale. Apple has also faced criticism for lagging in AI, even as Nvidia, Google and Microsoft surged ahead.
Is a hardware chief a surprising pick in the AI era?
Apple’s shares fell 0.6% in after-hours trading in the US following Ternus’s appointment. Analysts, however, said the choice was not unexpected: Apple’s revenue remains tied to hardware, which grew 6.4% last fiscal, and its financial performance has held up despite a slower start in AI.
Apple’s market capitalization has risen from $2.3 trillion to $4.1 trillion since generative AI gained prominence in October 2022. Cook, in a statement, said Ternus “has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honour.”
What does this mean for India?
India became a key market for Apple during Cook’s tenure, moving from the periphery to one of its more important regions. The company has reported record quarterly revenue in India for 15 straight quarters and expanded manufacturing.
At the end of 2025, Apple’s iPhones accounted for $23 billion of India’s $47-billion electronics exports, as per Ministry of Electronics and IT data. Tata Electronics reported $7.1 billion in revenue last fiscal tied to assembling Apple devices.
Apple has also scaled retail and engineering. Since 2023, it has opened five stores across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Noida, and now occupies 6.3 lakh sq. ft in Hyderabad and 3.9 lakh sq. ft in Bengaluru.
With Ternus set to take over, India is likely to remain central to Apple’s manufacturing and market strategy.