THE RON JOHNSON DISASTER TIMELINE: How The Apple Guru Humbled JCPenney

JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson just turned in what are probably the worst quarterly results ever in the history of major retail: same-store sales were down 32 percent in Q4 2012, to $3.8 billion.

By late February, the stock was down 46 percent on the year.

There are rumors of impending mass layoffs at the chain. (And with a sales decline like that, how could there not be layoffs?)

This week and last, Johnson remains distracted by a celebrity deathmatch trial pitting him against Martha Stewart, both live in the witness stand, in New York state court.

Johnson, the former retail boss at Apple, only became CEO of the department store chain in November 2011. But already some analysts think Johnson has only six months left before the board — or shareholders — force him to leave.

Here's how it got so bad, so fast.