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One year after the passing of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) legendary founder Steve Jobs, one question repeatedly resurfaces in Wall Street as the media and everyday people commemorate the man who changed the world with his technology and marketing genius:
Can Apple thrive without Steve Jobs?
As I argued in a piece published last year, this could prove to be difficult. On the one hand, it is difficult for Apple to thrive without a leader with Jobs’ strong vision. He was a man could see the Big Picture and the details within it. A man who knew the technology, the market, and the art, and could marry all of them together in blockbuster products.
And he had the charisma to develop and spread the message to Apple followers, creating efficient and effective WOM and buzz campaigns.
On the other hand, as a non-conventional company, Apple can thrive without Steve Jobs. It is a form of collective entrepreneurship, an association of thousands of entrepreneurs that share the risks and the rewards from the discovery and exploitation of new products. And this business model makes it more likely that there will always be someone to lead the company in the right direction.
So far, the answer is yes -- Apple can thrive without Steve. The company has introduced iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, another version of the iPad, a new MacBook and software upgrades. Sales and profits have been soaring; and Apple’s stock has gained 80 percent, beating its close competitor Google (NASDAQ:GOG) by a high margin.
The problem, however, is that all products launched this past year are versions of products developed under Steve Jobs. Customers and stockholders have yet to see a new family of products in the pipeline under the new leader Tim Cook.
Can Apple thrive without Steve Jobs? It may be too soon to tell.
