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Apple Cuts Tim Cook's Pay After 2016 Performance Falls Short (cnbc.com)
Apple cut CEO Tim Cook's 2016 pay after the iPhone maker missed its revenue and profit goals for the year. From a report on CNBC: Although Cook's annual salary went up by $1 million, he received $8.75 million in total compensation for the year, according to an SEC filing posted on Friday, down from the $10.28 million he received in 2015. Company executives received about 89.5 percent of their targeted annual incentives. The company said its annual sales were down nearly 4 percent, or $215.6 billion, from its target of $223.6 billion, and its operating income was down 0.5 percent from its target at $60 billion, according to the filing.Apple last year faced declining revenue as it grappled with the first prolonged slump in iPhone sales. The salary of some other executives were also trimmed.
Thin will be in until he's removed as CEO. HP made their laptop 1.8mm thicker for a third more battery life in order to drive their 17" 4K monitor. Apple needs to do the same.
Yeah, they're on fire!
But he really just needs to be fired.
The question that never seems to get asked is: Why do these executives get these incredible salaries? Does anybody - apart from the tiny elite at the top - really think it is good value for money?
please
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
He went to making more money than God down to more money than God, just a little less. Good grief. Who really needs to make 7 figures? /me ducks
Apple last year faced declining revenue as it grappled with the first prolonged slump in iPhone sales.
Not really shocking. The iPhone 7 is barely different from the iPhone 6. They gave users no reason to upgrade. They've basically ignored the Macintosh line for several years now. They haven't done anything particularly novel or interesting in their iPad line in quite a while. They introduced the Apple Pencil but didn't really commit to building the software to make it useful or give users a way to store it in/with the device between uses. I hate to say it but the Microsoft Surface line has been a lot more innovative recently. The Apple Watch was always going to be a niche product at best and they haven't done anything interesting with Apple TV.
Apple hasn't released anything new or noteworthy so why should their revenue be expected to go up. Their products are still good but they really need to push the envelope a bit more if they want to maintain their current gaudy profit margins.
Only 8 millions! How will he possibly survive?
Folks, let's start a Patreon for him, we cannot let him starve.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Let's face it... it's not as if replacing Jobs was going to be an easy task- it may have been impossible.
That being said, Apple is not living up to the standard Jobs set. Maybe that's Cook's fault... maybe not. The recent products are lame. They've eviscerated their computer business. So if new products don't hit... it's not like they can fall back on the unfulfilled promise of OSX. They've been so successful with new consumer innovations, they've tossed away all the vertical markets they used to rule.
This is a dangerous position. They shouldn't cut his pay- they should fire him and find someone to take over.
Another consultant who stuck it out.
"We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
I can remember sitting outside in 2007 waiting for the store to open and start selling the original iPhone. It was hot in the mid-summer sun sitting on that hard concrete, but it was worth it to upgrade from the aging PalmOS. It wasn't perfect, but I loved it. I ended up buying the latest one every year since just to have the fastest version of my favorite phone. That lasted until 2016.
Of 10 friends (and their spouses), virtually no one has upgraded to an iPhone 7. Half upgraded to a larger storage capacity iPhone 6S intending to keep it for another year or more. The rest have considered Android, but haven't made a purchase. Losing the headphone jack has been a major problem. If it isn't connecting it to your older car with 3.5", but no Bluetooth, it is connecting it to headphones or something else we already own.
Hopefully Apple will be brave enough to put the headphone jack back in. I can't see using a phone without one. I'm apparently not the only one.
I am sure that some PR dolt is telling Apple that they really get to the public to understand their message. However, it seems clear that the sustained and pretty narrow criticism that their non-phone hardware is crappy is not a marginal opinion. They simplified their line into a 'use old laptop parts for everything' which may make sense from the perspective of simplifying their parts bin but not for much else.
This does mean they have a lot of options for correcting this tailspin. It may be selfish, but from my perspective I want a data truck. Give me a Mac Pro tower.
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
Have WOZ come back and make good macs that pro users, gamers, etc can use.
Getting a pay cut isn't going to motivate him. He clearly isn't bringing his A game... he needs to be incentivized; perhaps a more aggressive bonus structure, or more stock options? Maybe he needs a big raise? You need to do this to attract and retain talent! /sarcasm
Doctors are responsible for peoples' lives. If pay follows trust and responsibility, then doesn't it logically follow that they should make way more than CEOs? Then come fire, police, military (solders not generals). Then come the teachers we entrust with our children's education, farmers that grow our food, engineers and technicians that keep the country running, etc. Somewhere at the bottom of the trust and responsibility scale are the CEOs (after actors and athletes but before politicians).
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
I hope he stays afloat.
What are salaries of Apple's engineers and software developers? What is order of magnitude of salaries of top engineers at Apple?
Tim Cook is a stupid bean counter, and Jony Ive is destroying Apple with his ego. The lost their Consumer Reports recommendation for the first time. Their machines are becoming dreadful.
Reporter: We caught up briefly with Tim as he getting off a crowded transit bus. We asked, "Now that you've lot all that money, what adjustments are you going to have to make?"
Tim: "Obviously we're eating out less, driving less, more walking, fewer movies. On the plus side, we're enjoying more interaction with our neighbors at outdoor barbeques and spaghetti nights. Community is the key."
Have you forgotten the courageous removal of the mini-headphone jack?
No but I think that is more sound and fury than an actual problem for most people. Some people care about it a lot. Most don't really give a shit. Apple is selling tons of iPhone 7 units so the evidence is clear that it isn't a deal breaker for plenty of folks. No, the main reason people haven't upgrades is because the iPhone 7 is barely different from the 6. I've owned and used both so I know first hand. The headphone jack thing just isn't that big of a real world issue.
Gone are the days when the left and right speaker are in perfect sync. Gone are the days when your audio and video were in sync.
I happen to own an iPhone 7 and I've experienced none of what you describe. My earphones work just as well as they ever did even on the rare occasion when I have to use a dongle to attach them. Most of the time I use bluetooth and it works just fine. Nothing amazing but fine. If the headphone jack is super important to you there are plenty of other very good options out there.
Pricy, laggy, hit or miss pressure sensitivity, noticeable parallax, slippery to hold and doesn't even have an eraser.
Haven't used the Apple Pencil enough to know much about its hardware performance but I do know that the big problem with it is that rather little software supports it in any useful way except for a few bits of mostly primitive drawing software. I haven't seen any decent note taking software for the iPad yet and believe me I've looked. And the fact that the iPad doesn't have a storage slot for it is to my mind unforgivable. To have a stylus you really have to get software to utilize it as something more than a fine tipped finger and Apple hasn't bothered with that yet.
Precisely! His base salary went up by $1M, however, his net pay went down b'cos Apple stock went down. How is this 'Apple cutting his pay'?
This is the effect of them neglecting their impoverished desktops and laptops line-ups. I hate them for having me to use 6.5 year old MBP laptop with no suitable PC/Win equivalent in the last few years. I want Apple power laptop, not a shiny-encrusted chicken shit tablet calculator worth €3333.
$100,000/year in California is diddly. Municipal bus drivers can make that much here.
Where are you getting your data? Median California household income in 2015 was $64,500. And according to this, the highest paid bus drivers in the state are in Santa Cruz, making $57,420.
Sure, the iPhone 7 _case_ is barely different from the iPhone 6. And yes, there is no reason to upgrade... unless you want a much better camera, faster CPU, faster Touch ID, force touch, water resistance...
I've owned both the 6 and the 7. The camera in the 7 is a modest improvement - certainly nothing world changing. The phone isn't notably faster nor is the touch ID. The force touch is one of those "features" that seems nifty but rarely gets used in practice. The water resistance is nice but it wasn't like I made a habit of dunking my 6. Sorry my friend but all the improvements in the 7 are modest and incremental. If you have a 6 already I cannot in good faith recommend upgrading for any practical reason. The 7 is nice but not really good enough to justify a multi-hundred dollar upgrade from the 6 unless you are an Apple fanboi who cannot bear to be without the latest and greatest.
I like Apple Pay a lot but it hasn't exactly taken the world by storm and Apple doesn't seem to be working too hard to promote it. Standard procedure for them since Jobs died. Introduce something kind of neat and then mostly ignore it for several years. Hell the apps written by Apple on my iPhone are barely improved from the first version I bought. They keep making changes to the interface, usually resulting in it being more annoying to use than before but with little to no extra functionality.
They mostly ignored the _desktop_ Mac line for several years now, but the MacBook (introduced last year) was a very significant change as was the MacBook Pro introduced this year.
There hasn't been a substantial *improvement* in the MacBook for several years. The few upgrades have been barely noteworthy and the latest MacBook Pro has some very questionable design decisions. Wow, USB-C and a touchbar nobody asked for or cares about. Apple only gets about 15% of their revenue from PCs these days so they clearly have their management attention elsewhere. Their laptops are nice but you get the feeling they could be a lot better. I haven't seen an update to OS X that really made me notice it in years. Differences between Sierra and El Capitan? Couldn't tell you and I use a Mac almost daily at home. None of the "improvements" really affect my daily use one bit.
They haven't done anything particular novel or interesting in the iPad line... except for the iPad Pro.
[sarcasm]Ooh, a bigger screen, a shitty keyboard and a stylus that is nearly useless. What groundbreaking technology... [/sarcasm]
They haven't done anything interesting with AppleTV... except release a brand new Apple TV with an app store just over a year ago.
Which is more or less a non-upgrade. I own the previous AppleTV and my in-laws own the current one. There is nothing the current one does that makes me want to upgrade. Apps? What app do I need on AppleTV that would make me want to buy it? I sure haven't seen one. The new remote is annoying to use and it doesn't give me any special capabilities I can't live without. AppleTV is a toy - nothing more.
Pretty sure that Cook makes his real money on stock grants. His overall compensation is way, way, WAY more than 8 million per year.
/. editors making shit headlines is not very uncommon around here...
Fire his ass and get a leader with vision. The iPhone is slumped because there is nothing to drive sales. NO ONE WANTS A THIN PHONE if it means poor battery life and a weak frame that can bend during normal use. Give me more features like an IR camera, night vision camera, an internal LED projector, plug in keyboard and screen for desktop functionality, stereoscopic cameras for 3D pictures, a waterproof design, a much tougher screen (this is not even that hard, you basically just make your screen plastic with a top replaceable layer. When the layer gets scratched, you replace it. The plastic screen will not shatter, and the top layer protects the main screen from scratches.)
There is still a lot of potential for smart phones; Apple used to be innovating, now they are coasting on their trendy consumer base, but that will push them back to a 5% market share.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
Now, instead of getting more in a year than he could spend it 10 lifetimes, he got more than he could spend in 9 lifetimes.
How ya like dat?
Jobs had an uncanny ability to coordinate the intersection of new technology, manufacturability, and consumer taste. He also knew to spot a zig when others were zagging.
He made Woz's Apple II marketable, tamed GUI's when Xerox Star failed, helped start Pixar when the financial failure of Tron spooked the rest of the CGI market, brought out cool desktop computer designs when the rest of the industry was bland beige or Sony black, simplified Apple's product line, and made the brave choice of tossing the physical phone keyboard for an all-screen design despite Blackberry's success. Other co's would have me-too'd on the Blackberry: playing it safe by cloning the design of the top competitor.
There are many interesting ideas floating around, but to package them in a way that consumers can digest, and manufacture them at a reasonable cost requires a multidisciplinary approach, and guts. Few people have the skill or knowledge to balance all three.
Jobs may have had the equivalent of Google Glass useful, marketable, and affordable by now.
Table-ized A.I.
Historically there's been two types of Apple CEO - Steve Jobs and everyone else. Tim Cook is definitely in the latter category.
Jobs believed in delighting the customer ('insanely great" products). He produced products for the professional (developer and graphic arts) markets, not because they were immensely profitable, but because he realized these people led by example and influenced their companies and others to buy.
Tim Cook had the "courage" to remove a headphone jack. Apple will coast on their cash reserves for a long while, but they need another visionary leader.
[Insert pithy quote here]
> NO ONE WANTS A THIN PHONE
hundreds of millions of people want a thin phone
> if it means poor battery life
the iPhone doesn't have poor battery life, it has really good battery life for the usage patters of the vast majority of customers
> and a weak frame that can bend during normal use
This is not a real problem.
---
I agree that Apple needs to give people better reasons to upgrade their phone, they're clearly out of ideas and are squarely into incrementalism.
Yeah! Samsung!
Ooooh, so companies are like football teams?
Yeah! Consumer choice!
(Am I doing it right?)
The wealthy have an interesting sense of entitlement; they accuse the poor of having an "entitlemernt" mentality but they are projecting upon the poor.
Apple is a good example of this.
So are the music and film industries.
How?
Apple's revenue decreased slightly, but is still close to a quarter of a trillion dollars, eclipsing the revenue of its closest competitors combined. And yet, they're still achieving astounding numbers in a supersaturated market with intense competition. They've beating everyone else by a wide margin, and the board isn't happy with that. They aren't happy that Apple is maintaining its lead and tremendously profitable numbers, and they're punishing Cook for results that anyone else can only dream of.
That is entitlement right there; when obscene profits aren't enough, or they consider a slight decline in sales while maintaining leadership and near-record-breaking profits to be a loss.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50