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Could Scott Forstall succeed Steve Jobs as Apple’s CEO?

I first noticed how truly passionate and charismatic Scott Forstall was during his keynote at WWDC 2006, where he was then titled VP of Platform Experience on the upcoming version of Mac OS X “Leopard.” He then further impressed me at WWDC 2007 when he spoke about upcoming third-party apps for the iPhone. On March 6th, 2008 during Apple’s iPhone SDK Event, Scott Forstall helped Steve Jobs unveil the iPhone SDK. His keynote speech was flawless as he showcased the ins and outs of the SDK (Software Development Kit). This past Monday, June 9th at WWDC 2008 Scott delivered another passion filled keynote, only this time his title was Senior Vice President of iPhone Software at Apple Inc. He is reporting straight to CEO Steve Jobs at every step of the way, and he may be in control of the most important, fragile and “under-the-microscope” section of Apple’s business.

Every Apple event has a certain energetic buzz surrounding it. Extra special events have included a revolutionary, world-changing product, concept or business model introduction. The SDK event was truly a landmark occasion in which Apple unveiled the iPhone software roadmap, released the iPhone Software Development Kit, and introduced the iPhone Enterprise Beta Program, not to mention iFund. It was during this event that I realized Scott Forstall would be the perfect successor to Steve Jobs as Apple’s CEO. I mean let’s face it, Steve needs to retire soon, one or two more years and he should deservingly step down.

As nature intended, a successor to Jobs should be introduced sooner rather than later. For one, the stock price will need to re-adjust after major news like this gets announced. Nobody wants to see a frantic sell-off based on rumors about Jobs leaving, and I for one found myself asking today, “Well, what’s is going to be?” Apple isn’t known for being a transparent company, but they’ve gotten better and better at listening to their customers. At this point, we need some information.

Steve Jobs has made his beliefs about mobile computing very clear. It is evident that the iPhone is an inevitable way to stay on top of [what he thinks is] the most important market in the world… The mobile market. At this past Monday’s WWDC, Jobs described Apple’s core-business model as three-pronged: 1) Mac, 2) iPod-iTunes, 3) iPhone.

The iPod and iTunes prong is very well established. Every once in a while we get a brand new iPod model or refresh, and every so often we see iTunes offer to sell/rent us something new. The Mac prong is also very established, product lines are refreshed and updated like clockwork with the occasional overhaul and brand new model. The iPhone and mobile market prong however, is brand spanking new. And to Steve’s credit, the most important, making it the most fragile. Let’s take a look at Scott Forstall’s current title as described on Apple’s website: “Scott Forstall is senior vice president of iPhone Software at Apple. Reporting directly to the CEO, Forstall leads the team responsible for delivering the software at the heart of Apple’s revolutionary iPhone including the user interface, applications, frameworks and the operating system.”

It would make perfect sense to me if Forstall ends up succeeding Jobs as Apple’s CEO. Whoever attempts to fill this “un-fillable” position, will need boat loads of passion, charisma, keen instincts, chootspa, and evangelistic-response tendencies. He must be able to answer extremely technical questions with philosophical rants. He must literally scoff at competition, and believe a person is truly nuts for not using his products. Only time will tell if Scott Forstall is all of these things. Being senior vice president of iPhone Software at Apple Inc., while reporting directly to Steve Jobs puts him in prime position to pick up these essential traits.