Apple shows its ‘massive battleship’ is getting tougher to move::Apple’s $89.5 billion in quarterly revenue is nothing to sneeze at, but it also illustrates some of the challenges of being a mature company.
But, without disruptive new products, sales seem to be stuck in a muted place. And the next swing at big disruption, Vision Pro, starting next year, feels a like a slow build, initially.
Fuck stock market analysts. In one sentence it’s “they don’t innovate.” In the next sentence it’s, “they innovate, but I want them to do it faster.”
How often can you expect a single company to disrupt entire markets? These expectations are not sustainable.
I think this could have been smelled in the water for a long while. Tim Cook was trusted to steer the rudder but his specialty is supply chain management, and I don’t think anyone can say he’s done a bad job.
But. On the R&D side I don’t think people could say he’s done a great job.
The ideas have dried up. When you go “safe” at CEO you make money, but you limit your ceiling, which, once again, with Apple is already breaking the mold.
Consumer electronics is saturated. There is little to no breakthrough there anymore.
Evolution is outside that, but outside that might not be in Tim Cook or Apple’s executive suite’s realm anymore.
Tim Cook is the perfect captain to keep the ship on a steady course and not rock the boat, but I’m not convinced he is an innovator. I sometimes wonder if Jobs selected Cook as his successor, because Jobs expected to overcome his health problems and return, and wanted Apple in safe pair of hands during his cancer battle.
That said, Apple only appears to be “failing” from the angle of the stock markets obsession with infinite growth. They are still an enormous company with high brand strength and large cash reserves.
Cook also leaned on Jony Ives for innovation, and he’s more creative with aesthetics than he is with functionality. The Apple Watch would have been even more innovative if Jobs were alive to shepherd it.
What a weird headline
Apple’s strongest force is marketing. It’s their absolutely greatest ability. This video says it best: “Apple is a recipe company, not an innovator”.
And second best: “It’s not invented until Apple does it”
So, Apple doesn’t have to innovate. They just have to copy a good idea and market the shit out of it claiming they were the first, and Apple lickers will gobble it up at whatever ridiculous price is dictated to be “premium”.
Apple prints money.
