Apple CEO Tim Cook is on the PR circuit this week, and as usual he has some not so nice things to say about the competition. In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek Cook spoke about Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia, their transition to devices and services, and Nokia’s failed business.
When asked for his thoughts on Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia, Cook had this to say:
“Everybody is trying to adopt Apple’s strategy. We’re not looking for external validation of our strategy, but I think it does suggest that there’s a lot of copying, kind of, on strategy and that people have recognized that importance.”
Basically he is calling Microsoft out for copying Apple’s strategy of making their own software and hardware. Many companies have tried to adopt a more Apple-like approach, but many have failed. Microsoft is one of the few companies that can pull it off. They have been doing software for decades, and they have shown they can make great hardware too (Surface).
Cook was also asked about Nokia themselves:
“I think [Nokia] is a reminder to everyone in business that you have to keep innovating and that to not innovate is to die.”
That’s a very interesting statement to make, considering that recently the iPhone (Apple’s biggest brand) has been very stale. Just look at iPhone models over the years. The hardware and software design moves at an extremely slow pace. It took five years for iOS to look different. Meanwhile Nokia is cramming a 41MP camera into a smartphone and being accused of not innovating. Oy.
What do you think about Cook’s comments? Is he way off base, or is he right on? Let us know in the comments!
