Completing the New Regime at Apple

After Apple Cofounder Steve Jobs officially passed the CEO baton to Tim Cook in August, Jobs retained the role of chairman at his company until his death last month. That role has now been filled by Arthur D. Levinson, who also serves as the chairman of Genentech. A board member since 2000, Levinson is one of Apple's longest-serving directors.

Apple also added another member to its board: Disney CEO Robert Iger.

There's been a shuffling of roles outside the boardroom as well. Ron Johnson, the head of Apple's much-lauded retail operations, has left to run J.C. Penney.

Meanwhile, Apple seems to have ended up on the winning side of a longstanding dispute with Adobe over the future of mobile software. In the smartphone sales realm, though, the wide array of Android phones available on the market is taking its toll on the iPhone's overall market share.

Sales and Profit

Apple's iOS took a 15 percent market share in the third quarter of 2011, third in the smartphone platform market behind Android and Symbian, down from the 16.6 percent share it held for the same period in 2010.

Though numbers are down from a year ago, the 17.3 million iPhones sold during that time period doesn't take into account customers who waited to purchase the iPhone 4S.

The numbers also don't show another important factor: profit. Canaccord Genuity's T. Michael Walkley estimates that Apple has just a 4.2 percent share of the global general handset market, yet it earns 52 percent of the industry's profit, according to a report in AppleInsider.

Android, with a wider variety of phones, some of which are available for less than current-generation iPhones, has long been able to claim a large chunk of the market. However, the iPhone 4S doesn't show signs of slowing, especially as worldwide distribution increases.

"Sequentially, the 4S sales are very strong. It's launching in India a few weeks from now, and here, distribution is strong and momentum is very strong. Apple's 4S is the de facto choice for people who want the next generation of smartphone," Trip Chowdhry, senior analyst for Global Equities Research, told MacNewsWorld.

Additionally, while Android might be taking a greater market share in the mobile market, no one can come close to Apple in the tablet market. The Amazon Fire, said Chowdhry, isn't a threat.

"Anyone who says the Amazon Fire is an iPad killer is completely clueless and doesn't have a sense of how the products compare. When you buy an iPad you buy more things -- you buy a laptop, a media tablet, a gaming console, 3G access and an e-reader. That's the uniqueness and magic of an iPad, which other makers, including [Amazon], haven't figured out. When you mold that together the price is not expensive," said Chowdhry.

Adobe Gives In

On the software side, Adobe announced last week that it's halting development of its Flash Player for mobile browsers, ending an ongoing dispute with Apple over Web standards. The technology isn't compatible with Apple's iDevices, and Steve Jobs consistently shunned it from his company's mobile products.

Adobe stock fell after the announcement, and company heads warned its sales could take a hit, but even after the ongoing dispute between companies, it's unlikely Apple will see a huge change.

"They brought up some interesting points and there are some interesting situations coming up, but HTML 5 is not going to marginalize or up Apple sales," Mark McKechnie, telecom equipment analyst at ThinkEquity, told MacNewsWorld.

Retail Magic

One thing that is changing at Apple, though, is the face of its retail department. Former head Ron Johnson announced his departure to run the J.C. Penney retail company in June and took over there on Nov. 1. Since then, the hunt has been on for a new retail head at Apple, and the eventual replacement will have big shoes to fill.

Johnson and his team, who worked directly with Steve Jobs, were responsible for the innovative customer experience that goes on in Apple's 350 nationwide stores. Johnson did away with traditional retail store staples like cash registers and lines, instead installing the Genius Bar with personalized technical help and giving each employee mobile devices to complete transactions.

The retail team also tweaked the design of the stores to match Apple's devices -- simple and sleek, with a focus on the product. Johnson oversaw the launch of those stores in high-profile locations such as New York's 5th Avenue. The retail user experience is a huge part of the overall marketing focus at Apple.

Whoever next heads up Apple's retail ops will have his or her work cut out for him. Apple leads the industry in revenue per square foot, and Tim Cook has expressed a desire to keep expanding globally, especially in China, where demand has skyrocketed since Apple opened six stores there. Apple plans to open 40 stores in 2012, and about 28 will be outside of the U.S. Since Hong Kong and China have been some of the most highly trafficked and profitable of the recently opened stores, the region is a prime target for more locations.

"In the spirit of Apple, it's going to be a person who is an out-of-the-box thinker, very creative and very revolutionary. It could be anyone, because Apple values ideas more than experience. The departure of Johnson could be a good thing because you need to have fresh parts to push forward and keep challenging, just like Apple does," said Chowdhry.

Apple did not respond to MacNewsWorlds' requests for more information on the search.