One too many Cook's in the Kitchen (OK best I could do)

So Apples stock is tanking. My personal stock needs an aqualung. It seems that the WOW factor is leaving Apple, iPhones are no longer the saving grace, is Tim Cook going to be able to hang in?

It's clear that Tim Cook was Steve Job's personal recommendation for CEO, and there's no doubting Cooks ability to manage incredibly complicated supply chains and manufacturing, but is he the visionary CEO, pushing the company to the limit to innovate and provide products that we "might" need but "must" have?

Apple laptops are still far superior than anything else on the market. The OS system on Macs leave MIcrosoft faltering and trying to emulate, the design of the powerbooks and Mac Air is still breathtaking, the speed of the solid state laptops addictive. Apple always had the reputation for building amazing laptops and really accessible cool looking good desktops.  I think the new iMac is a beautiful thing, so is an iMac from ten years ago.  The company is faltering on it's iPhone.

Imagine being the company that completely changed the way we look at and use a telephone.  A sleek touch screen, that allowed you to keep your calendar, contacts, photos, music, weather, texts in one place, oh and you can make calls! It was revolutionary and everyone followed behind.  But now the edge has gone, the iPhone 5 a disappointment, and rumors are that iPhone 5S (please can we kill the stupid "S" thing), the same make up as the iPhone 5. Samsung have come out with a phone that is equal if not better than the iPhone 5, the Galaxy 4.  Friends of mine who have the Galaxy 4 love it and do not miss the iPhone 5.

Today Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron downgraded Apple. The downgrade comes directly from falling iPhone sales. Apple has to do something and do it quickly to start building shareholder confidence. Growth of sales is bound to happen when everyone has a smart phone, it's being a victim of their own success, but now that HTC, Nokia, Samsung and Apple are all fighting it out, what will Apple do to squash the competition and WOW us all?

Getting back to Tim Cook.  Is he really the right guy to be steering the ship?  If not him then who?  Apple likes to promote from within, and apart from Jonny Ive, who certainly is mega talented but not CEO material, who else?  At the developer conference a couple of weeks ago, Craig Federighi certainly turned out to be the star on stage, but who knows what leadership chops he would have in the top position?  For now I think Tim Cook is safe simply because who else would you put in?  But people and the board might start looking soon at alternatives if nothing happens soon.