New Delhi, Aug. 29 -- CUPERTINO - In four days, Apple gets a new chief executive. In twelve, it holds its biggest product event of the year. For a company that has spent two decades making transitions look inevitable and launches look effortless, the period ahead of Friday's $273.17 close, up 1.58% on the session, feels unusually live.

a platform company that generates $100 billion in services revenue annually regardless of what the central bank does with interest rates.

John Ternus takes over as Chief Executive on September 1, ending Tim Cook's 14-year tenure. The handoff has been structured to look more like a chapter break than a regime change. Ternus, who has spent the past four years leading Apple's hardware engineering division, i...