After 15 Years And More Than 60 Earnings Calls, Tim Cook Says Goodbye

Tim Cook has taken part in his final Apple earnings call as chief executive, and much like his farewell at WWDC, he chose to keep it understated rather than turn it into a moment.

He broke from the usual format only briefly, opening with a short thank you to shareholders, particularly the long-term ones, and to the analysts who have tracked the company closely over the years.

Cook confirmed that John Ternus will lead these calls going forward, described the handover as going seamlessly, and said he could not be more confident in Ternus, the executive team, and the wider company.

He called Ternus one-of-a-kind and said he had never been more optimistic about Apple's future, before moving straight back into the regular question and answer session. Every analyst who spoke afterwards thanked him for his time in charge.

The scale of what is ending here is easy to underestimate. Cook has led every quarterly call since taking over as CEO in 2011, roughly 60 of them, and has not missed a single one in fifteen years, including the many where he was audibly working through a head cold.

He was also a fixture on these calls well before that, handling them alongside then-CFO Peter Oppenheimer while Steve Jobs stayed away.

Jobs made a rare appearance in October 2010, joking that he did not usually join because the company was in capable hands with Peter and Tim, but that he could not resist dropping by for Apple's first $20 billion quarter. It was the last earnings call he spoke on.

The contrast with where Apple sits now is stark, because the company touched a $5 trillion market capitalisation this week.

For anyone who has actually sat through these calls, the format has barely changed in a decade and a half. The first half is prepared remarks from Cook and the CFO, and the second half is the two of them politely declining to say anything about whatever unreleased product analysts are fishing for, from the iPhone 6 through to the iPhone Fold.

AppleInsider, which reported the call, notes it keeps a running count of how often variations of "we do not comment on unannounced products" get used, and that a 2018 call holds the record at eleven.