Tim Cook steps down in September. Apple rewrites its playbook now. Revenue climbed 17% in the March quarter, iPhone sales jumped 22%. Free cash flow rose 28%. Yet buybacks halved. R&D spending surged 34%. The company ditches its net cash neutral target. CFO Kevan Parekh signals more cash on hand for flexibility amid rising memory chip costs and AI races with rivals.
Cook calls it investing in ‘opportunities’ across products and services. Behind the numbers, bigger shifts brew. Yahoo Finance flags these moves as Cook reshaping strategy before handing off to hardware chief John Ternus. The Information broke the details first.
And the App Store? Pressure mounts. A federal judge in 2025 slammed Apple for dodging a 2021 Epic Games injunction. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Apple ‘willfully’ violated orders by slapping a 27% commission on external purchases—nearly the full 30% store cut. ‘Cook chose poorly,’ she wrote in an 80-page decision, referring the case for criminal contempt probe. Apple must now allow unhindered links to outside payments. No commissions on off-app buys. No tracking those sales.
Developers cheer. Consumers might see lower prices. But Apple appeals. Tim Sweeney of Epic calls it the ‘App Death Star’ squeezing AI apps that bypass payments. Guideline 2.5.2 blocks ‘vibe coders’ previewing code on devices—tools like Anything app got yanked despite fixes.
Europe piles on. Digital Markets Act forced sideloading, third-party stores. Apple added fees: Store Services Fee, Core Technology Commission, Initial Acquisition Fee—up to 20% combined. Coalition for App Fairness blasts it as ‘repackaged status quo.’ EU accepted changes in July 2025, averting more fines after a €500 million hit. Apple now begs Brussels to repeal DMA outright, claiming it delays features and boosts scams.
China too. App Store fees drop to 25% there. Cook courts Beijing amid U.S. tariff threats. Japan got 10-21% commissions plus processing fees.
Short term? Record $111.2 billion March quarter. iPhone 17 demand ‘off the charts,’ Mac Neo sells out on AI workloads. Cook warns of memory shortages hiking costs—maybe pricier phones ahead, as TechCrunch notes.
Ternus inherits a $4 trillion behemoth. Quadrupled revenue under Cook. Services like App Store top $100 billion yearly. But AI lags. Hardware focus stays—Macs, iPhones. ‘Deep thoughtfulness’ in finances, Ternus vows, echoing Cook.
Critics question China reliance. New York Times says Cook risked U.S. security for profits. WSJ praises globalization lifting billions, but AI demands boldness.
Cook’s advice to Ternus? Recall Jobs: stay true. Transition smooth. Stock dipped less than 1% on news, per Reuters. Investors laud Cook’s steadiness.
Fragmented stores risk security. EU users face more scams, Apple warns—600 new APIs built, but vulnerabilities grow. Developers submit screen recordings, feature lists for reviews now. Stricter gates.
Cook exits strong. Ternus steps in amid headwinds. Cash hoard builds. R&D accelerates. App Store bends, doesn’t break. Apple’s fortress adapts. Or cracks?
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