On November 1, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tim Cook saved Apple from an almost catastrophic year in just two quarters. At the time, U.S. President Trump’s erratic tariff policies could significantly push up Apple’s costs. An upcoming court ruling threatens Apple's lucrative search contract with Google. In addition, the outside world generally believes that Apple is lagging behind in the field of AI.


Cook

Faced with so much uncertainty,Apple's market value fell to US$2.6 trillion in April.Lost the title of "the world's most valuable company".

Just six months later, Cook pushed Apple's market value to $4 trillion for the first time. This market value is more than 10 times what it was when he took over as CEO from Steve Jobs 14 years ago.


Apple’s market value reaches $4 trillion

In the years that Cook has been in charge of Apple, Apple has not released revolutionary technologies or new products that can completely change people's lives like the iPhone did. Instead, the CEO, who turns 65 on Saturday, has won over shareholders by doing enough to protect and grow the business. This year, Cook’s conservative strategy was on full display as he maneuvered politically and legally and launched an attractive new iPhone.

Apple investors are most worried about the threat of tariffs and Trump's direct criticism of Apple's supply chain. Apple still relies heavily on the large-scale manufacturing system it has established in China over more than two decades. This supply chain was built by Cook during his tenure as Apple's head of operations.

Since most iPhones are still produced in China, investors panicked when Trump announced massive import tariffs on Liberation Day in April. Apple's stock price plummeted more than 20% in the following days.

Cook has already prepared for the worst-case scenario of the trade war. Over the past few years, he has been moving more of the final assembly of iPhones to India and exporting more Indian-assembled phones to the United States, bypassing tariffs on Chinese goods.

The move upset Trump. Trump said of Apple in May: "We don't want you to go to India and build a factory. India can support itself."

But according to current and former employees, Apple’s supply chain cannot and will not return to the United States on a large scale. Asia has an advantage that the United States cannot match: skilled workers are abundant and wages are low.

please trump

Cook learned how to deal with Trump during his first term: He could endear himself to Trump simply by giving the president a headline to brag about. According to people familiar with the matter, in 2018, Apple promised to invest US$350 billion in the United States within five years. This expenditure is actually part of the company's already planned budget.

In 2019, when faced with the crisis that Chinese products might be subject to additional tariffs, Cook personally lobbied Trump, clarifying that the tariffs would push up iPhone prices and benefit foreign competitors. Subsequently, Apple canceled its plan to move the Mac Pro production line from Texas to China, and Cook also specially took Trump to visit the Austin factory.

"Today, I presided over the groundbreaking ceremony of Apple's large manufacturing plant in Texas." Trump declared. In fact, the factory has been in production since 2013 and only produces niche products. At the time, Cook did not correct the president.

This strategy has paid off. Trump dialed back his tariff threats during his first term and granted tariff exemptions to iPhones and other electronic products.


Cook pleases Trump

This year, Cook used this strategy again. In August, he announced that Apple would increase its investment commitment in the United States to $600 billion over the next four years. Cook announced the investment while standing with Trump in the Oval Office and presented him with a gold-plated piece of art.

Cook also made few new concessions this time, according to people familiar with the investment. These commitments are mainly investments that the company originally planned to make. The investment includes the production of AI servers in Texas and the provision of manufacturing training for American companies in Detroit. Specific projects announced by Apple include: investing US$2.5 billion with long-term partner Corning to produce iPhone cover glass in Kentucky, and investing US$500 million in the United States to produce rare earth magnets.

However, Cook has never committed to moving manufacturing of Apple's popular products to the United States.

After Apple announced this U.S. investment commitment, Trump announced that Apple’s imported electronic products would be exempt from tariffs, and the company would only have to pay smaller Chinese tariffs. Trump also agreed on Thursday to cut those tariffs in half.

Keep a lucrative contract

This isn't the only crisis Cook has managed to resolve this summer. As an antitrust lawsuit against Google moves into the penalty phase, a judge will decide whether to cancel Google's fee to Apple Pay to become the default search engine in Apple's Safari browser.

If the contract is canceled, Apple will be hit hard. Analysts estimate that this agreement brings Apple more than $20 billion in revenue annually, almost all of which is included in profits, accounting for about one-fifth of the company's operating profits.

Cook sent his confidant Eddy Cue to testify. The senior vice president in charge of services told the judge that he had "spent many sleepless nights worrying about the possible cancellation of the Google contract" and testified that the power of technological change is so powerful that it can bring down even the largest companies. The implication is that there is no need for judges to impose too severe penalties, and the market itself will play a regulatory role.

In the end, the judge only imposed a symbolic penalty on Google and said that the market competition landscape has been changing, mainly due to the rise of AI. Notably, he also pointed out that banning search sharing fees would hurt companies like Apple. As one analyst said at the time: "Apple dodged not bullets, but missiles."

After Labor Day, Cook welcomed hundreds of guests to Apple headquarters as he unveiled the latest generation of iPhones. The star of this iPhone 17 launch is the thinner new iPhone Air, but its weaker camera, single speaker, smaller battery capacity and high price have not been widely welcomed by consumers.


iPhone 17

There was no real “disruptive innovation” in the entire conference. Perhaps the feature that cheered the most was the camera sensor that allows users to take photos horizontally without turning the phone horizontally.

Despite this, the new features Apple has introduced on other models of the iPhone 17 series are enough to attract many users to switch. Thanks to strong iPhone sales, Apple on Thursday forecast holiday quarter revenue growth of up to 12%, double Wall Street expectations.

AI issues do not affect stock prices

Apple has been criticized for its slow progress in AI while rivals have invested heavily in developing it.

However, Apple's stock price remains strong, thanks in part to Apple's $100 billion in annual stock repurchases and continued revenue growth, thanks to Cook's focus on delivering products that are deeply embedded in people's lives. His motto is "Don't compete for the starting spot, just be the best."

Many people have forgotten that when the original AirPods were released 9 years ago, they were widely ridiculed as "expensive cotton swabs that are easy to lose." The product development process was full of challenges, but Cook kept pushing forward. Now they have become a must-have iPhone accessory, generating billions of dollars in annual sales. The same goes for Apple Watch, which has evolved from a marginal digital fashion product to a widely used health and fitness device.


Apple stock price keeps rising

Meanwhile, Cook has been squeezing more revenue out of the iPhone ecosystem every year, selling apps, subscriptions and App Store ads, and taking a higher cut from Google. These services generated more than $100 billion in revenue for the first time in the past fiscal year, with profit margins even higher than device sales.

Since Cook took over as Apple CEO, people have been criticizing him for not being a "product CEO" like his predecessor, Steve Jobs. While Jobs frequently visited Apple's design studios to check on the development of future products, Cook rarely visited, preferring to focus on operations. However, under Cook's leadership, Apple has built its own semiconductor business and designed the world's top chips.

When Cook finally steps down, some analysts hope the company will appoint a more visionary and product-focused CEO to better drive innovation in the AI ​​era, but neither Cook nor the company has hinted that such a change is imminent. He is widely expected to remain executive chairman after stepping down as CEO.