WHAT HAPPENS TO APPLE AFTER STEVE JOBS

Steve Jobs, Apple Inc's co-
founder and former CEO who
died on Wednesday after a
long battle with pancreatic
cancer, created a series of
seminal electronics products,
reinvented several industries,
and built Apple into a $350
billion juggernaut.
Widely hailed as one of the
greatest CEO's in history,
Jobs handed the reins over to
longtime operations chief Tim Cook in August, and
many analysts believe the company is well-positioned
for the future. But his death still leaves many
questions.
Q: Can Apple succeed without Jobs?
Jobs was famous -- some say notorious -- for keeping
an iron grip on every step of the product development
process, from conception to execution. The Macintosh,
the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad all shine with his
distinct design sensibility. Still, investors and
consumers alike had grown accustomed in the past
year to the idea of Apple without its visionary leader.
Since January 2011, when Jobs went on his third
medical and Cook again took over, most observers
expected that Jobs would not return to full-time,
active duty. Yet investors and customers remained
confident in the company.
Apple has plenty of new products in the pipeline, and
there should be few bumps in the short term. But it's
not clear if Jobs' brilliance -- both as a product
visionary and a super-salesman -- was ultimately
transferable. The lukewarm reaction to Cook's first big
product introduction on Tuesday could be seen as a
warning sign.
Q: What will happen to Apple's share price?
Jobs' health had been an issue with investors for
years (he was diagnosed in 2004), but that has not
stopped Apple shares from marching higher. The stock
moved little when Jobs announced in August that he
was stepping down as CEO, and it moved little in
after-hours trading after the announcement of his
death Wednesday.
The biggest factors affecting the stock currently are
the reliability of its iPhone and iPad product pipeline,
and how well the company wards off smartphone
challenger Google Inc and burgeoning rival
Amazon.com Inc.
Q: What is Jobs' legacy?
Jobs is counted among the greatest CEOs in history,
mentioned in the same breath as Henry Ford and
other historical giants of corporate America. One of his
most unique achievements was vaulting Apple to
world leadership not just once, but twice. After co-
founding the company with Steve Wozniak in 1976
and giving the world the Apple II and the Macintosh,
he was famously pushed out in a clash with his hand-
picked CEO, John Sculley. When Jobs returned in
1997 the floundering company's survival was in
doubt, but he proceeded to radically transform an
ageing computer-maker and take it in a new, and
wildly successful, direction. There are few examples in
any field of such a brilliant second act.
Along the way, Jobs in 1986 also bought Pixar, which
was then little more than an experiment in digital
animation technology. The company ultimately
became a juggernaut of its own, and when it was
acquired by Disney in 2006, Jobs became the largest
shareholder of the entertainment giant. Again, there
are few examples of a CEO turning a side project into
a world-class innovator and business success story.
Jobs' few critics say the Macintosh was mostly
borrowed technology, and beyond that all Apple gave
the world was a sleek cellphone and an improved
music-player. But many people -- in the tech world
and beyond -- believe his impact on society and
culture was monumental. He prompted millions to
embrace digital technology, online media and mobile
communications in ways they never did before.
Q: Will Apple change under Cook?
While both Cook and Jobs have earned reputations as
hard-driving perfectionists, Jobs' successor is
considered easier to work with. While Jobs was
infamous for chewing out employees -- multiple
stories have him firing workers in the elevator -- Cook
is said to be better at forging consensus.
Whether and how Apple will transform under his
stewardship is an open question. But Cook's success
at Apple is due in large part to his sharing many of his
boss's traits: a demand for perfection, an exhaustive
attention to detail, and a hard-nosed attitude at the
negotiating table.
In Cook's early days, insiders say, his boss
occasionally had to step in to get tough media-content
negotiations going again. But after years of wringing
concessions from Asian production partners and three
stints running the empire in Jobs' absence, Cook has a
lot of credibility, and confidence in his leadership runs
high.
Q: Who else is important to the company's
future success?
Design guru Jonathan Ives, marketing chief Phil
Schiller, and mobile-software head Scott Forstall are
three of the most important players. Schiller filled in
for Jobs on several product launches, and with Cook
being more low-key by nature, Schiller may gain a
higher public profile.
Q: What will be Apple's "Next Big Thing"?
There's no shortage of speculation on what direction
Cook will take Apple in, and whether Jobs had
already laid the foundation for Apple's "Next Big
Thing". For now, industry speculation centers around
some sort of concerted attempt to shake up the living
room, and TV. Apple has delivered results in the past
by diving into fragmented, stagnating industries --
notably music and telephones -- and re-imagining
them through technological innovation. Many experts
say TV and its confusing array of options is ripe for an
Apple-like "simple is beautiful" makeover.