Dave Lee, Columnist

Apple CEO Tim Cook Needs to Start Putting Out Fires

The iPhone maker has never faced this many uncertainties at the same time.

Strap in.

Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images 

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As the market prepares for Apple Inc.’s earnings on Thursday, all I can think is this: Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has problems. Plenty of them.

The company dropped out of the $3 trillion valuation club this week, leaving Microsoft Corp. to stand alone, thanks to worries over China sales and a multitude of other headaches for the Cupertino-based company. There are at least half a dozen challenges that analysts and investors will most likely ask Cook to address.