It was Steve Jobs who brought in a spirit of innovation to Apple and spearheaded the development of its hugely popular products. Naturally, his departure has led to questions about the future of Apple. After all, Apple is running neck-and-neck with Exxon Mobile for the title of the world’s most valuable company.

The question uppermost in everybody’s minds and that includes industry watchers, tech geeks, investors, employees and the man on the street, is whether Apple can retain its innovative edge and the literal stranglehold the company has on the market of smartphones and tablet devices.

No Impact in the Short Term

With plenty of products in the pipeline, Steve Jobs’ resignation won’t make an impact. Apple has a well- entrenched product roadmap and this ensures that the company can look towards an equally lucrative future in a post Steve Jobs era. Also, its executives, who have worked closely with Steve Jobs, will take his vision forward.

It’s impossible to predict what the future holds for the company, but its strategy for the next decade or so has been laid out by Steve Jobs. For now, there is no real reason for worry. The company’s future looks secure.

The Mr. Tim Cook Era

As the next CEO of Apple, can Mr. Tim Cook show the same passion for creativity, promotional savoir-faire, and designing excellence that defined Steve Jobs’ approach towards product development? It’s too early to answer this question either one way or the other, but having a look at Mr. Cook’s credentials does allow one to draw a picture.

Mr. Cook has been with Apple for more than decade, 13 years to be precise, and till recently was its COO; in charge of Apple’s global sales, operations and development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships. He is definitely an operations expert and has proved his mettle by successfully handling various responsibilities with the company. It remains to be seen whether his technological instincts are as sharp as those of his predecessor. But, it wouldn’t be fair to evaluate Mr. Cook’s performance through the prism of Steve Jobs’ accomplishments. It’s his experience, performance and the trust that Jobs has in his abilities that has elevated him to this position.  He needs to be given time to ease into it; after all, he has tremendously big boots to fill.

Early indications are definitely promising and the fact that Steve Jobs hasn’t left Apple, and will act as Apple’s guiding force in his capacity as the Chairman of the Board is good news for Apple supporters. So, it doesn’t seem likely that Apple will lose its focus on innovation, any time soon.