Steve Jobs Successor?

CNN's Fortune Magazine is speculating on who will be Steve Jobs successor. This is always a hot topic and one which analysts and industry observers tend to get excited about. You can't blame them, though. Thinking of an Apple post Jobs sends shivers down our collective AYAAW spine. It will happen someday, however, and speculation is always good fodder for pundits, Wall Street and Apple observers alike.

The big question is, of course, would Apple continue to thrive as the industry leader in design and innovation with Jobs gone? Who at Apple would be able to take the company reins without negatively affecting continued product innovation, financial growth and the stellar profits Apple has been posting quarter after quarter? We sure as heck don't know but after every MacWorld keynote, Developers Conference and/or product introduction where Jobs shares the stage, potential CEO successor names get thrown about. At this point in time, Furtune's Adam Lashinsky seems to have fingered the logical choice in Tim Cook. It's not the first time his name his name has come up in this discussion and it certainly won't be the last.

One surprising omission in the article is Phil Shiller, Apples Senior VP of WorldWide Product Marketing. Seems logical that a marketing guy should be included in any Apple successor discussion but Lashinsky must not think so.

Anyway, the article is a good read and we highly recommend it. It offers up some good insight on an Apple exec you don't often hear a lot about and why he may or may not be Jobs' successor.