Apple is ramping up succession planning efforts, zeroing in on potential candidates to succeed Tim Cook as CEO as early as next year.

Apple is ramping up succession planning efforts, zeroing in on potential candidates to succeed Tim Cook as CEO as early as next year. A hardware executive from the company is tipped as the front-runner to succeed Cook.

People familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that Apple’s board of directors and senior executives have recently intensified efforts to find a successor to Tim Cook, who has led the $4 trillion company for more than 14 years.

John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, is widely seen as Cook's most likely successor, FT reported. However, no final decisions have been made yet.

If Ternus does succeed Coo

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