Apple Promotes Eddy Cue: The Next Steve Jobs?

Tim Cook's first promotion gives a first look into Jobs-less Apple

It didn't take Tim Cook long to make his first move as chief of the iGadgeteers. Today, Apple announced the promotion of former Vice President of Internet Services, Eddy Cue up to Senior Vice President of Internet and Software Services, reports 9to5Mac, which republished an internal memo announcing the move. As Cook's first move, the promotion gives us a first look into a Jobs-less Apple trying desperately not to lose its Jobs-induced magic.

The promotion shows that Apple is trying hard to hold onto that Steve Jobs sparkle--and not just through Cook. In 2010 Fast Company ranked Cue as number 2 in a list of the 100 most creative people in business. "Steve Jobs may own the limelight, but Eddy Cue, 46, holds the key to the Apple kingdom. Cue runs arguably the most disruptive 21st-century Web businesses: iTunes and the App Store, the latter of which is poised to create a $4 billion app economy by 2012."

Without Jobs Apple will need more of that type of thinking, especially in the areas where Jobs kicked ass, explains Epicenter's adamcfisher. "With Steve Jobs stepping down as CEO, who will be granted the power to bend media companies to Apple’s will, upending whole industries and creating new ecosystems along the way?" As head of iTunes, Cook makes sense argues VentureBeat's Devindra Hardawar. "Cue has served as Steve Jobs’ go-to media guy throughout his career, and I would wager that his new role will make it easier for him to carve out important media deals in the future."

Cue's move also signals Apple's commitment to the cloud. Cue will now control Apple’s entire cloud-based operations, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore and iCloud services. "He’s clearly going to be a key figure for Apple’s future going forward, because he has stewardship over iCloud." If he can work any of the game he used in spearheading the iTunes and App stores, iCloud should be in pretty good hands. But, if he takes any direction from his MobileMe days, which had a disastrous launch and "was widely criticized for connectivity and dependability problems," as GigaOm's Darrell Etherington points out, the cloud might have a rockier path.

This is likely just the first in many management moves, but Cook's wasting no time as he tries to move Apple forward without losing too much of its past.