Tim Cook Assures Employees Apple is Staying Focused on What It Does Best

Apple CEO Tim Cook today addressed Apple employees at a virtual company-wide meeting held to address questions about work-from-home arrangements and when people can expect to return to their jobs in retail stores and corporate offices.

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Bloomberg shared details on the meeting, with ‌Tim Cook‌ calling the current health crisis an "uncertain and stressful moment" that Apple will recover from. Apple, said Cook, began the year with a strong balance sheet and will continue investing "in a really significant way" in research and development and future products.

If we stay focused on doing what we do best, if we keep investing, if we manage the business wisely and make decisions collaboratively, if we take care of our teams, if our teams take care of their work, I don't see any reason to be anything but optimistic.

Cook was asked about job cuts, but said that Apple is in a strong financial position and has been paying retail employees unable to work. Cook said that his focus is on running Apple for the long-term rather than the short-term. Cook cited the launch of the MacBook Air, iPad Pro, and iPhone SE as evidence that Apple's product launches are not being disrupted.

There's no word yet on when Apple employees will be able to return to their workplaces, but he said that Apple will likely implement measures like temperature checks and social distancing when employees do go back to work.

Apple's retail staff has started online training and virtual meetings have ramped up ahead of store re-openings, with Apple planning to re-open its first store in South Korea this weekend. U.S. stores are not likely to reopen until May, and even then, will open on a staggered basis with Apple taking into account local conditions and guidelines.

According to Cook, Apple has now sourced and donated more than 30 million N95 masks to healthcare workers around the world and has shipped more than two million of the face shields that it has been working on.

Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams also spoke, and he said that the health crisis has made Apple's work on health products more important, including the Apple Watch. Apple's development work in health isn't "limited to the wrist," but more governments are now working with Apple to bring the ECG feature to additional countries.

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Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
66 months ago

Cook cited the launch of the MacBook Air, iPad Pro, and iPhone SE as evidence that Apple's product launches are not being disrupted.
Yeah, everything is A-OK. Nothing could possibly go w—



Attachment Image
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mtneer Avatar
66 months ago

Cook was asked about job cuts, but said that Apple is in a strong financial position and has been paying retail employees unable to work.
There are many times I've been critical of Tim or his decisions, but this is laudable. Credit due to doing the right thing.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joniz Avatar
66 months ago
Tim Cook Assures Employees Apple is Staying Focused on What It Does Best
Well, looking at the state of their software lately, I’m going to assume it’s not that.

Must be making money.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nvmls Avatar
66 months ago
Sure Tim, while at it, please polish macOS before putting out any other toys, thanks.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedGala Avatar
66 months ago
Tim gets a lot of flak but he's a good one imo
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Dee Avatar
66 months ago
I do love his belief in the company and optimism about the company's future, but, it still feels empty. Its like, his confidence comes from the company's balance sheet. Rehashing the same products over and over again, to sell them as something new to customers (iPad Pro with A12Z - just one more graphics core, iPhone SE, MacBook Air with a better keyboard ). That doesn't feel like ground breaking to me. The product categories are also messy. Too many iPads to choose from, iPhone is all over the place, you are paying for features, which frankly should not be premium. But, what I ultimately feel is, this virus is going to change our buying habits when it comes to buying new technology.

Apple products are in part status symbols; they turn heads, draw interest, conversation starters. But, I'm afraid, if we continue into this crisis, there is little need for any of us to really be upgrading. I know, my upgrade plans have pretty much been pushed out to 2023 or whenever Apple stops providing OS updates for the devices I already own.


Yeah, everything is A-OK. Nothing could possibly go w—


Seriously, I died!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)