Apple perfected iterative improvement. Each iPhone slightly better. Each Mac slightly faster. But this machine struggles with category creation. The car is dead. The headset is niche. AI is late. When the core product (iPhone) saturates, the iteration machine needs a new target. Apple Intelligence is the bet.
Tim Cook runs tight ship. But iPhone dependency means careful iteration. Big bets are rare.
Butterfly keyboard fixed (eventually). Car project killed after $10B. Slow but eventual.
Functional org structure keeps knowledge in silos by design. Services group growing.
iPhone is 50%+ of revenue. Ecosystem lock-in is the business model.
Still attracts top talent. But "innovation" culture questioned. Jony Ive left.
Capex is supplier-funded largely. Services high margin. Hardware supply chain mastery.
Silos by design limit cross-pollination. But integration is the product.
"Apple perfected iterative improvement. But this machine struggles with category creation. When the core product saturates, the iteration machine needs a new target."
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