Everything is half-hearted from Apple since Steve died. He was the beating heart. Who has stepped into that role? Like for real? Anyone? I’m just not seeing it
I think the average idiot can take a really strong business and weaken the bones for some quarters or years of extra profit, possibly insane profit, before lack of focus on what really made the company strong starts to erode the fundamentals. I think we’re seeing that with Apple personally. It’s just colossal though so there’s a lot of squeezing and a lot of profit before it really catches up. And they don’t even disappear. They just become lumbering monsters like Microsoft, IBM, and HP that people don’t use because they want to. HP was legitimately a great company.
But this isn’t some quarters or years, it’s been _fifteen_ years. I think we’ve seen enough genuine innovation (Apple silicon, to name the major one) that it’s clear Apple isn’t shutting down the innovation pipeline to squeeze margin out of revenue.
Apple Silicon started under Steve didn't it? He died in 2011, first A4 was out in 2010 IIRC? That implies to me that Steve had a hand in it -- because he reputedly had a hand in everything.
But that's it, thats the innovation. The singular one since he died. I think my point stands tbh: everything is half-hearted since Steve died.
Only looking at these numbers and not the general sentiment around the company, I'd say yes, it matters. Myopically focusing on profits and assuming profit = good is, well, its super common but also pretty nutty.
At this point to take part in modern life a smart phone is required. Having captured a market for an essential "luxury good" doesn't mean they're doing something right. It just means we have no other choices.
