Billionaire investor and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel has criticised Apple for failing to deliver another major technological breakthrough since Steve Jobs died in 2011, saying the company has largely built upon the success of the original iPhone.
The device had been announced before Thiel’s interview, although his comments were not specifically a response to the new model. Apple has continued expanding its product range, with MacBooks, iPads and AirPods becoming familiar devices worldwide. Apple has also faced questions about its artificial intelligence strategy, particularly as competing AI assistants from OpenAI and Anthropic have attracted attention. However, its products continue to command a significant presence in the consumer technology market. This is not the first time Thiel has questioned Apple’s future.
(Also read: Palantir CEO says AI will reshape workforce and only 2 types of people will thrive ) Thiel made the remarks during an interview with author Walter Isaacson for The Builders podcast , recorded on September 16 and released on October 22. “Then it was just scaling and branding and building it out over 15 years or whatever. Jobs introduced the first iPhone in 2007, changing how people used mobile phones. The company also launched its first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, on October 23, nearly two decades after the original handset appeared. In a 2017 interview with The New York Times, he declared that the company’s era was over, arguing that smartphones offered limited room for further innovation.
He argued that Apple’s financial success should not be confused with groundbreaking innovation, according to Business Insider . “In my telling, it did nothing new after Jobs,” Thiel said, reflecting on the company’s direction following the death of its cofounder. “It turned out, yeah, the mobile phone was this giant invention — there was not that much more to do,” he said. Despite his criticism, Thiel acknowledged that Apple remains a strong business, describing it as a “pure, well-run value stock”. His concern appeared to be less about the company’s commercial performance than what he viewed as the disappearance of its founder’s ambitious approach to innovation. (Also read: Tim Cook reveals advice Steve Jobs gave him before handing over the reins as Apple CEO: ‘Never ask what I would do’ ) “I would still say somehow Elon or Steve Jobs are way better for society than Tim Cook,” he said, comparing Jobs and Elon Musk with the executive who succeeded Jobs.
