Apple Analysts Don't See Risks as ‘Irreplaceable' Jony Ive Leaves

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. shares inched lower on Friday after it announced that Jony Ive -- the chief designer behind iconic products such as the iMac and the iPhone -- is leaving the company to form his own firm.

While analysts unanimously praised Ive's record at the company, with Deutsche Bank writing that he was “perhaps second only to CEO Tim Cook presently in terms of impact to AAPL's success,” most saw limited long-term impact from the departure. They noted that Ive's new company would count Apple as one of its primary clients, and that the departure comes at a time when Apple is focusing more on services for growth, rather than hardware sales.

The stock dipped 0.2%, though it has risen nearly 14% from a low earlier this month.

Read More: How Much Was Jony Ive Worth to Apple? Market Says $9 Billion

Also: Inside Apple's Long Goodbye to Design Chief Jony Ive

Here's what analysts are saying about the news:

Wedbush, Daniel Ives

This “is a major changing of the guard.” Ive is “leaving a hole in the company and is clearly irreplaceable.”

Because Ive will continue to work with Apple, “we are not overly concerned.” However, the news “only adds to the current agita around the Apple story as the company is branching out into television and gaming all while it is currently the poster child for the U.S./China UFC trade battle on the heels of the G20 summit.”

Outperform rating, $235 target

Cowen, Krish Sankar

The departure is “a loss for Apple,” but it comes at a time when the company “is in the process of a transition from being focused on hardware products to services and content.”

“While it remains unclear how Apple's future hardware product innovation may be impacted without Ive, the multiple stakeholders that will be tasked with design decisions going forward will undoubtedly open a new chapter in Apple's design language.”

Outperform rating, $220 price target.

Deutsche Bank, Jeriel Ong

“While it could be viewed as a bit sensational” to claim that just one employee “could be this important to AAPL, we see Ive's contributions to AAPL products as central to the company's design-centric strategy.” He is “perhaps second only to CEO Tim Cook presently in terms of impact to AAPL's success.”

Hold rating.

Nomura Instinet, Jeffrey Kvaal

“While investors may rue a resignation of a long-time executive, we consider this a sensible and even expected time for Mr. Ive to disengage.”

Neutral rating, $175 price target.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says:

Ive is “leaving a void at a critical time when the company is striving to reinvent the iPhone, though we believe any effect will be muted by Apple's shift in focus to boosting services and software vs driving sales through hardware innovation.”

“His departure is less impactful [than] it would have been in prior years.”
-- Analyst John Butler
-- Click here for the research

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Vlastelica in New York at rvlastelica1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Scott Schnipper, Jennifer Bissell-Linsk

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