As we move into 2024, Tim Cook will also be in his 13th year as Apple CEO.。

Recently, on a podcast, Cook discussed something he and Apple had almost never mentioned before: their succession plans for the company's leadership.。

Over the years, Cook has led Apple to unprecedented heights, and with a current valuation of nearly $3 trillion, Apple is the most valuable company in the world.。But as he said on the podcast, he won't be CEO forever。

For the market, the CEO transition is one of the most stressful events any company will experience。Because top-level transitions tend to create uncertainty that makes employees and shareholders nervous, especially for Apple。Because Apple is not an ordinary company, it has billions of users around the world, the CEO change may bring differences in product vision or philosophy, if the change is too drastic, there may be user loss。

Apple has also considered these uncertainties internally, so Cook also mentioned that he plans to stay in the company "for a period of time," but did not disclose how long the so-called "period of time" is。

In the podcast, Cook admits life is full of uncertainty, saying that he himself "could be on the wrong track tomorrow as well."。And revealed that if anything happens to him, Apple has a "very detailed succession plan in place."。

Cook would not say who is likely to replace him at the helm of Apple, but said he "really wants (the next CEO) to be from within Apple" and believes part of his role is to ensure that the board has several internal candidates to choose from.。

So if Apple does pick an internal candidate, who will be the next CEO?？Of the many older employees within Apple, the following four are considered the most likely candidates to succeed Cook。

First: Craig Federighi, currently senior vice president of software engineering at Apple

There is speculation that Federigi is the most likely person to be named Apple's next CEO。Because Federigi may be Apple's most recognizable face besides Cook。He has appeared several times in company keynote videos, with high public exposure。He is a key member of Apple's internal leadership team.。

Federighi oversees Apple's "core" products: iOS (the operating system that powers the iPhone) and macOS (the operating system that powers the Mac), which are the company's main sources of profit.。

Although he is a software man, he has a deep understanding of the role of technology in the modern world and a keen "social sense," which is an important quality of being Apple's CEO.。

In addition, Federigi has an advantage: his age。Federigi, 56, is the youngest of the four candidates in this article.。Younger age means he has better energy to "steer" Apple。The age advantage also means he can serve longer as CEO, allowing Apple to have a more stable leadership。After Cook's departure, employees and investors will certainly want Apple to remain stable for a longer period of time, rather than appoint a CEO who will retire in five years.。

Second place: Greg Joswiak, currently senior vice president of global marketing at Apple

Josviak, 60, who joined Apple in 1986, has been at Apple for 37 years and has been at Apple longer than Cook.。That means he's been through all the ups and downs of Apple。Josviak only joined after Jobs was ousted, so he knows what it's like to work at Apple under a leadership that lacks vision。In addition, he was very familiar with Apple's renaissance and played an important role after Jobs returned to the company in 1997.。Josviak also helped develop the original iPod and iPhone, which saved the company.。

Josiviak's greatest strength is his extensive experience at Apple。He understands what works and what doesn't work for Apple, its shareholders and its collaborating customers。As senior vice president of global marketing, Josviak is probably best informed about Apple's narrative model and how the company presents itself to the world.。A good CEO should be good at communicating the company's vision to employees and customers, and Josviak can do that。

Third place: Eddy Cue, currently senior vice president of services at Apple

At present, Apple's business has gone far beyond the scope of a hardware company, and to reach this point, it can be said that Cooey contributed。

In recent years, Apple has invested heavily in services led by Cooey, including digital media stores (such as the App Store and iTunes Store), advertising on stores such as the App Store, cloud services (including iCloud Plus), streaming services (such as Apple Music and Apple TV Plus), and payment services such as Apple Pay.。

These services generated $85.2 billion in revenue for Apple in fiscal 2023, making it the company's largest revenue category after the iPhone.。Cooey thus "stands firm" inside Apple。Given the amount of money that services businesses now generate, these businesses are likely to increase in importance to Apple in the coming years。Because the revenue generated by the service business is recurring, and the profits of these businesses are much higher than the profits of physical goods.。

Cooey, 59, has been with Apple since 1989, meaning he also has a wealth of experience.。What's more, he's also single-handedly built a service business worth nearly $100 billion.。As a result, Cue is also seen as a strong contender for Apple's CEO.。

Fourth place: Jeff Williams, current chief operating officer of Apple

When discussing Apple's CEO successor, Apple's current Chief Operating Officer (COO) Williams is also often mentioned.。Apple produces and ships a large number of products each year, and dozens of different teams bring them to market, a process that makes Apple as smooth as its iOS system。And that has to do with Williams, 60, because he oversees it all.。

Cook was chief operating officer within Apple before he became CEO。As a result, many speculate that Apple's next CEO will be promoted from the position of chief operating officer。

Before Cook became CEO, many people thought that operations people didn't quite follow in the footsteps of creative visionaries like Jobs, but these years Cook proved them wrong。

Like Cook, Williams is a competent chief operating officer.。And he's more than just an operations officer himself, currently leading the company's design team and overseeing Apple's thriving health program, including the health features built into the Apple Watch.。While health technology is still a relatively new field for Apple, data shows that the global digital health market is expected to reach 1% by 2030..$5 trillion。If Apple can capture a small portion of that market with its health technology, it could generate billions of dollars in revenue for the company.。

Perhaps no one other than Cook has a more comprehensive understanding of how to keep all of Apple's widgets running and running than Williams。In fact, Williams also has an engineering background and has led many of Apple's design and wellness programs, meaning he is at least as competitive as he was when Cook was Apple's chief operating officer.。

Who will finally stand out？

While these four candidates are likely to be at the top of Apple's internal list of potential successors, it's worth noting that Apple's board can not promote someone from within the company.。The board has every right to appoint a CEO from outside Apple。However, doing so could be a serious blow to Apple employees, investors and customer base, so it's less likely to happen。

Under Jobs and Cook, Apple was a company with a cohesive vision and culture。It's hard to imagine how an outsider could easily fit into such a special environment。

In addition, if the board selects one of these four potential candidates, or selects any other person in Apple's current leadership team, there is no guarantee that that person will take the job。Because some people may prefer their position to the "burden" of Apple's CEO.。It may be that for some people, they have never considered a CEO as one of their career goals.。

As Cook said, "I didn't dream of becoming Apple CEO."。It's beyond my own dreams。But it does happen and I want to make sure it can happen to other people as well.。"