After years of being criticized by bloggers and analysts for not steering Apple in the right direction, Steve Milunovich, an analyst at the investment firm UBS, has declared Tim Cook “the right man at the time” to be Apple’s CEO. Milunovich praised Cook for not making “spreadsheet-driven decisions” and said that Apple has continued to remain focused on making the best possible product for its customers, regardless of the return, under Cook.
Milunovich also noted that, after meeting with Cook, he believes that Apple’s internal teams are starting to collaborate and cooperate more, something he believes will lead to Apple making better products simultaneously. What encouraged Milunovich to proclaim his thoughts? Cook reportedly told Milunovich that he felt the need to merge the leadership of both the OS X and iOS teams. The person in charge of both iOS and OS X is now Craig Federighi, a man many in the press are now comparing to Steve Jobs after an excellent performance at WWDC. Federighi, originally a member of the NeXT team, took over OS X from Bertrand Serlet in 2011, and then iOS from Scott Forstall when he left the company in 2012.
Steve Milunovich, The UBS analyst, also touched on concerns that Apple may not be able to innovate as quickly under Cook, and that the company has yet to release its “next big thing.” Milunovich doesn’t have these concerns for Apple, and even noted that “We think Cook-doubters will be proven wrong.” Additionally, UBS expects that Apple’s next big product, namely the “iWatch”, to launch during the second-half of this year.
UBS has kept Apple at a “buy” rating and has a 12-month price target of $100 per share. AAPL is currently sitting around $92.
