Should Tim Cook Rant or Gloat at Steve Jobs’s Grave Given Apple’s Q2 Results?

Last week, an apparently Photoshopped image of Apple CEO Tim Cook ranting at the tombstone of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs did the rounds of social media sites.

Was the image prophetic of what Mr Cook will do these coming days given the second quarter results of the iPhone and iPad maker? Or would he instead gloat because while the numbers spell slower growth, earnings and number of devices shipped beat analysts' expectations?

Apple reported $43.6 billion revenue for the March quarter and $9.5 billion profit. When compared to the same quarter the previous year, while there was growth in revenue from $39.2 billion, profit slid down 18 per cent from $11.6 billion.

However, the numbers are slightly higher than analysts' expectation of revenues from $41 billion to $43 billion.

In terms of sales, the California-based tech giant sold 37.4 million iPhones, up from 35.1 million, 19.5 million units of iPad, up from 11.8 million, but registered sales contraction for is Macs to just less than 4 million units and iPods to only 5.6 million pieces.

Given these numbers, Mr Cooks would still have reason to boast to his former boss that Apple still sells despite the stiff competition from South Korean tech giant Samsung and other tech companies.

However, Mr Jobs could shoot back and point out that Apple's share prices continue to languish at below $400 compare to $700 a few months ago, shedding more than a third of its value the past six months. He could also rant about the company he co-founded losing its ranking as the world's most valuable company or losing market share of smartphones with Androids comprising 70 per cent while Apple holds a miniscule 20 percent.

In an op-ed, Mashable pointed out that even in the world of tablets where Apple still rules, based on the performance of the iPhone the past quarter, "then the iPad's lead should also winnow away over time."

The Web site added that Apple is only managing its decline instead of continuing the growth it used to enjoy the past few years. It said a new product category appears to be the only option for Apple to return to growth, but its iWatch appears to have been upstaged by the Google Glass which had started to be shipped to customers who had pre-ordered the device.

Responding the shareholders' demand for more returns on their investment, Mr Cook announced on Tuesday that the company will increase its dividend by 15 per cent and will roll out a new stock buyback programme to return $100 billion to shareholders by 2015.

For now, Mr Cook appears to have no reason to either rant or gloat at Mr Jobs's grave. While on a downward trajectory, Apple is far from the poorhouse and is even awash with a lot of cash.

However, Mr Cook should be reminded that other tech greats before them such as Motorola, Nokia and BlackBerry buckled under when during their heydays nobody thought they would be bumped off the top spot.