Jobs' house is in a very quiet neighborhood in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley. Last spring, Gates and Page entered through this small door to visit the critically ill Jobs. The Alta Mesa Cemetery has prepared a guestbook for visitors who come to pay respects to Jobs. Jobs rests among green trees and grass. Zheng Jun reports from Silicon Valley. Although it's only February, California has already entered spring. A quiet neighborhood in Palo Alto, a common two-story residence. Compared to the surrounding luxury villas, this red-brick blue-roofed house looks somewhat shabby. Several tall plants block the main door, tightly closed windows and white curtains completely obscure the view. The front yard has just been mowed, exposing soil that emits a smell of fresh grass, with nameless flowers blooming by the railing. Everything appears so ordinary, as if an ordinary family lives there. But five months ago, this place gathered global attention. Policemen and security guards nervously patrolled the streets, with strangers constantly coming here, placing a bouquet of flowers, leaving a card, lighting a candle, or leaving an apple at the fence. Because this was the home of Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple. On October 5 last year, when everyone was excited about the newly released iPhone 4S, they heard an expected yet shocking news: Jobs had passed away. Expected because Jobs had fought cancer for years and had just resigned as Apple's CEO due to health issues; shocking because no one wanted to accept the fact that this great man, who had changed the world multiple times and led the tech trend, had left. But this time, the legendary figure previously jokingly referred to as "Jobs Unkillable" was truly gone. His family secretly held his funeral, just like his private life. A memorial service was held separately for his close friends at a small chapel in Stanford and for Apple employees at Apple headquarters. While global media tirelessly reviewed Jobs' contributions to the tech industry, they all asked the same question: how will Apple fare without Jobs? The Apple Empire reaches its peak. Ten days after Jobs' passing, global Apple fans again rushed to buy the newly launched iPhone 4S, their enthusiasm undiminished. They called this new model that seemed externally unchanged the iPhone For Steve, viewing it as the last product personally crafted by Jobs. The voice assistant Siri sparked even greater enthusiasm, with almost every user who got the new phone urgently opening Siri, conversing with this revolutionary voice assistant in various accents. Twenty days after Jobs' passing, his only authorized official biography, "Steve Jobs," was globally released simultaneously. This book, which meticulously recorded Jobs' glorious life and inner journey, quickly climbed to the top of bestseller lists. The trivia recorded in the book became topics of media interest. Three months after Jobs' passing, Apple announced its first quarter financial results of the fiscal year 2012 ended December last year; in these three months after his passing, Apple's financial report was even more astonishing. Revenue of $46.3 billion, up 73% year-on-year; net profit of $13 billion, up 118% year-on-year. Last year, iPhone sales reached 93 million units, capturing nearly 80% of market profits with just a 6% market share. The performance of the iPhone department alone surpassed the entire Microsoft. Even crazier than Apple's performance was its stock price. Apple's stock was at $376 when Jobs passed away, now it has soared to $513, with a market capitalization of $480 billion, ranking first globally. According to media comparisons, Apple's market value equals the sum of Microsoft and Google, and is even five times that of e-commerce giant Amazon. With nearly $100 billion in cash reserves, Apple leaves much room for speculation. Jobs personally founded Apple and returned like a savior, bringing the company once on the brink of bankruptcy to the peak of the global tech industry. Under his leadership, Apple grew from a small boat in Silicon Valley into a giant aircraft carrier; and after his departure, this behemoth continued to move forward at an astonishing speed. But was this momentum driven by Apple's own immense power, or simply the inertia of Jobs' previous push? Perhaps the answer will gradually emerge in the next two to three years. Increasingly limited growth potential Stock prices reflect investors' expectations, and the continuous rise in Apple's stock price partially reflects the market's optimism about Apple's future growth. It was Apple's repeated exceeding of Wall Street's expectations in its financial reports that pushed the stock price higher wave after wave. But having already reached the pinnacle of the industry, what growth prospects does Apple have left to drive further stock price increases? Thanks to Jobs' foresight, Apple revolutionized the entertainment, mobile, and reading industries with its trio of iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Among them, the greatest product was undoubtedly the iPhone, which initiated the true era of smartphones, opened the curtain on the mobile internet age, and brought enormous revenue and profit to Apple. The iPhone contributes 53% of Apple's revenue and 70% of its profit, making it Apple's strongest business. In the first quarter, Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones, capturing 24% of the global smartphone market. Selling only one model per year, being the highest-priced smartphone, achieving such sales and market share is almost unimaginable performance. But this raises a question: how much growth potential does the iPhone still have? Gartner offered their perspective: the strong sales of the iPhone 4S were largely due to a 15-month gap between new product releases, with pent-up demand leading consumers who had heightened expectations due to the iPhone 4 to go crazy over the new model upon its release. In the coming few quarters, the iPhone's market share might gradually decline. Increasing market pressure One new product per year, the Android cluster's encirclement, and Windows Phone's offensive make it seem as if a "Sword of Damocles" hangs over the iPhone. With the continuous development of smartphone technology, missing a trend could quickly lead to obsolescence. Apple must ensure that each iPhone remains at the forefront of technology, providing better software and hardware experiences than competitors, to maintain its current market position; otherwise, the "iPhone" halo may gradually fade. The market situation for the iPad shares many similarities with the iPhone, with Apple's leading advantage gradually shrinking. After its launch in early 2010, the iPad was synonymous with tablet computers for a long time, dominating the market. However, this was largely due to the weak competition from rivals, as Android tablets failed to offer competitive user experiences, and Microsoft tablets hadn't even truly started. The appearance of the Amazon Kindle Fire sounded the alarm for Apple. This was a truly hot-selling non-iPad tablet, selling nearly 4 million units soon after its launch at the end of last year, quickly capturing 14% of the market share, surpassing Samsung to take second place. Apple's iPad market share in the fourth quarter of last year fell from 64% to 57% (iSuppli data). The Kindle Fire, launched in mid-November, achieved one-tenth of the iPad's annual sales in just one and a half months. Judging from the various rumors about the iPad 3 (display and camera), the third-generation iPad seems more like a functional upgrade rather than a revolutionary product. Although the iPad still holds advantages in technology and user experience, in the long term, its competitive edge over rivals is indeed gradually diminishing. The Kindle Fire's differentiated competition is also eroding Apple's potential low-end market. Designer culture is key Microsoft Chairman Gates pointed out that the success of Apple's integrated hardware and software closed strategy was largely due to Jobs. Without Jobs, can Apple continue to prioritize designer culture, maintaining superior user experience and staying ahead in the industry? Jobs, with his immense personal charm, attracted numerous talents to form Apple's management team; after his passing, can Cook, with a different style, retain these talents? Currently, Apple clearly leads competitors in hardware design, user interface, and ecosystem, thanks to the designer culture Jobs instilled in Apple. Unlike other innovative companies' engineer culture and mature companies' salesperson culture, Apple is a designer-prioritized company. Jobs himself had an extremely high aesthetic taste, granting Apple's designers significant privileges. Jonathan Ive, Apple's Vice President of Industrial Design, is considered the soul figure of Apple products second only to Jobs. Under Jobs' strong appreciation, Ive could freely express his design talent, holding a status above any department. Due to a certain detail design, Ive once fiercely argued with Apple's former hardware engineering director Ron Rubinstein, nearly coming to blows. Jobs firmly stood by Ive's side, leading to Rubinstein, known as the "father of iPod," leaving Apple. Before Jobs' passing, Ive had repeatedly expressed thoughts of returning to the UK; now that his closest confidant is gone, how long will Ive stay at Apple? Notably, in the promotion activities for the iPhone 4S, Ive was unusually low-profile. Several revolutionary products introduced after Jobs' return to Apple all bore the genius design contributions of Ive. If this key figure leaves, whether Apple products can remain "the coolest on the market" is a huge unknown. Talent drain becomes apparent Besides Ive, Jobs gathered many excellent management talents; without the Silicon Valley legend Jobs, will these capable talents stay at the already-peak Apple, or seek new challenges? Actually, before Jobs' passing, his invincible fleet had already shown signs of talent drain. After obtaining rapid growth through constant innovation, Apple has entered a mature phase. Without Jobs, can Apple withstand the challenge and startup culture prevalent in Silicon Valley, resisting Facebook and other startup nobility's advances and dissuading existing talents from jumping ship? The resignation of Ron Johnson, former head of Apple retail stores, to become the CEO of JC Penny, America's second-largest department store, is a prime example. Recently resigned Apple executives include: Andy Miller, head of the iAd department; John Theriault, Vice President of Global Security; Sarah Brody, Senior Director of Design; David Tupman, Vice President of iPhone and iPod Engineering; Ron Police, Vice President of Government Sales; John Herbold, Senior Manager of iCloud Services; Bertrand Serlet, Macintosh Designer; Dag Kittlaus, Head of the Siri Department. Of course, Apple is a company with abundant talent reserves, able to replace departing executives through internal promotions and external recruitment, and the short-term impact of talent drain won't cause significant shocks. But as the influence of Jobs' passing gradually emerges, newcomers integrating into Apple's established culture will require time, and the next two to three years will be the most critical test of Cook's ability to retain talent. Social responsibility and supply chain Besides internal designer culture and talent drain issues, Cook must also face increasingly heavy public responsibility pressures. At the end of January this year, The New York Times published an in-depth investigation, targeting the working conditions at Foxconn, Apple's contract manufacturer, making Apple's supply chain a focus of attention. Under media scrutiny and protests from American citizens, Cook chose to respond quickly and invited ABC, an American TV station, to exclusively film the working conditions at Foxconn. In Apple's industrial chain, Foxconn plays a crucial role, handling the assembly of products like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. ABC's report believed that Foxconn did not engage in worker abuse, with working conditions significantly better than other Chinese factories. However, the Fair Labor Association, an American nonprofit organization, believed that Foxconn still had "many problems" needing resolution. In early February, Foxconn announced a comprehensive salary increase for mainland workers, with an adjustment range of 16%-25%. Currently, the base salary standard for mainland employees far exceeds the statutory minimum wage in various regions. The timing of this raise clearly indicates pressure from Apple behind the scenes. Behind Apple's dazzling profits, Foxconn's profit margin has dropped from 6% in 2006 to 2% last year, earning less than $1 profit per iPhone. Salary increases have put greater profit pressure on Foxconn, and this matter may have a more profound impact on Apple's future industrial chain. However, despite the hidden dangers under Apple's prosperity, this high-speed advancing aircraft carrier will likely continue moving forward in the short term. The years of hard work by Jobs accumulated unparalleled technical and financial strength for Apple, making it impossible for this empire to collapse in the short term. But Apple's future largely hinges on product innovation, and perhaps the rumored "iTV" might become the new nuclear power for this aircraft carrier. Postscript: Driving less than 15 minutes from Jobs' house, you reach the Alta Mesa Cemetery, where Jobs rests among some fragrant grass in the cemetery. To protect his family's privacy, the exact burial location of Jobs has not been disclosed. The cemetery management office has set up a dedicated guestbook for those who come to pay their respects to write down their condolences. As February 24th is Jobs' birthday in the afterlife, many people have recently come to commemorate him. The guestbook is filled with condolences in various languages, and the most common content is gratitude. A Japanese girl named Halco wrote: "Thank you for changing my life"; another note says "Thank you for bringing us so many wonderful products, hope your Apple can truly be great." As I leave the cemetery near dusk, the sunlight warmly shines on the lawn, flower wreaths placed on the green grass everywhere, and it is so quiet that you can only hear bird songs. For Jobs, who worked hard his whole life and relentlessly pursued perfection, perhaps this is his best resting place. No matter how great a person, they ultimately return to dust; no matter how great a company, it too has its rise and fall. Silicon Valley has witnessed the coming and going of generations of legends over decades, and seen the rise and fall of countless companies; but the only thing that remains unchanged is the tradition of continuous innovation. Jobs has departed, and Zuckerberg has taken over the mantle; and for Apple, there will be successors who surpass them.