Should superstar designer Jonathan Ive be officially designated as CEO-in-waiting?

With Apple enjoying phenomenal success under the stewardship of Steve Jobs, it’s a bit premature to imagine what the company might look like when he’s no longer at the helm. That hasn’t stopped some folks from clamoring for an official succession plan.

And, according to this article from Times Online, the man for the job might be the creative mind behind some of Apple’s most inspiring innovations: designer Jonathan Ive.

As it stands now Jobs and Ive look like geniuses together. Yet it’s hard to imagine Ive’s work without a leader like Jobs to support it, and equally hard to imagine where Apple, and Jobs, would be without Ive.

Which is to say this: that Apple has thrived because a charismatic, brilliant CEO has embraced risk-taking and innovation…and had the talent in-house to pull it off.

Who takes Ive’s place if he moves up? And will Ive be able to hold people in his sway, to make them believe, the way Jobs has?

It’s probably much ado about nothing at this point, but thinking about it raises the kinds of questions we’d all do well to consider.