If someone were to ask you – what company was started in a garage and now is one of the most admired companies in the world? Most people would likely say Apple. The company was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in a garage, because the 2 guys had little money but believed in a hobby type computer which eventually helped changed the world. The company introduced its first product the Mac and sales went through the roof. Afterwards it came out with products but not all were successful and eventually the Board asked Steve to leave. New management came in, could not achieve the same success, a few years later the Board bought NEXT which was started by Steve Jobs and he came President once again. Soon new products came and with the launch of the iPhone everything changed both the world and the company. Mr. Jobs was on the top of the world, however he got cancer and passed away too quickly. What happens to the company?

In a book called After Steve written by Tripp Mickle published by William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2022 the author examines what happened at Apple.

There will be 2 people introduced who made Apple what it is today. Jony Ives a brilliant designer and present CEO Tim Cook.

If you think about Apple, you often think about the brilliance of its designs. The 2 people most responsible were Steve Jobs and Jony Ive. The design team was led by Jony Ive and it was the design team’s job was to bring the impossible to reality. Steve Jobs tended to drop in once a week and say yes or no, more often no until the simplicity of the use of the product pops out to the public. Jony Ive has the same exacting standards of Mr. Jobs and would carry on his legacy. Often bringing the impossible to possible is expensive but all accounts the design is beautiful and functional.

Mr. Cook has shows his brilliance in different areas than design. Mr. Cook came up through operations and spreadsheets and became a master at inventory control. One year, his control was so good, Apple almost had no inventory. The companies in China which made the products of Apple had a yellow line in the middle, the companies financed the inventory, and it was not until the product went over the yellow line to be made into computers and laptops that Apple booked the inventory to their books. That yellow line helped make billions for Apple.

Mr. Cook negotiated a deal with the largest Chinese Mobile Phone company – China Mobil to sell iPhones the same as they do in the US. Most people do not buy the phone outright but pay installments. China Mobil has the biggest customer base and outreach in China. This action helps sales, which is the reason all analysts look to sales of Apple products in China.

Another thing that Mr. Cook did was to enhance the services aspect of Apple. Once a person buys a Mac or iPhone or an Apple product, they are in the Apple universe or ecosystem. The company started small by focusing on music with iMusic and then buying the company Beats. After the success of iMusic, Apple expanded services to include TV and Movies and other entertainment features. If you are an Apple shareholder you are thinking iPhone has sold over 1 billion units in sales, there are many people that are in the Apple ecosystem or potential buyers of services and every year some will upgrade to the next level of Phone.

The book has a focus on Mr. Ives contrasting to Mr. Cook – do Apple products change because one of the best designers in the world is no longer focused on the design of Apple products. Mr. Cook is one of the best bean counters in the world which is wonderful to shareholders. A book such as this one also shows how public relations works from a crisis situation and how congressional hearings work from the CEO perspective.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, all companies have good faith and reputation about its consumers who look at the company in a million different ways. The customer base often changes as time goes on, that does not matter the company better or worse, just different. For investors, you may love what the company is doing, but overtime the emphasis on what they are doing changes, do you still love it? the best description is often a small company will do something extraordinary well, then it expands and the company changes, it is better or worse?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.