Innovation is a process
The single-minded focus on what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has done lately seems misguided. First, it takes a long time to develop and perfect a new product category. Apple engineers were working on a touchscreen tablet by 2004 or so, more than five years before the iPad’s introduction. Ultimately, Apple concentrated on the iPhone first, before returning to what became the iPad. Apple hasnt introduced any new product categories since Tim Cook took the helm, but it’s quite possible that one or more products are in development and will hit the market in the next year or two.
Second, while recent iPhone upgrades have been incremental in nature, that’s really a testament to Apple’s already having made all of the “easy” improvements to the design. With the iPhone 4, Apple pushed the “thin, light, and sleek” design aesthetic as far as possible. The iPhone 4’s successors have added other useful features, such as Siri and LTE support. However, with less room for improvement, these features seemed to many observers like evolution rather than innovation.
How will we know?
Tim Cook’s critics still have one viable argument. Apple’s failure to launch a new product category in the past year may not prove that innovation is dead at Apple, but it doesn’t prove that innovation is alive, either. How long is it reasonable for investors to wait before concluding that something has gone wrong under Cook’s leadership?
Cook may have provided the answer to that question on Apple’s earnings call last month. In his prepared remarks, Cook claimed that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had great opportunities in new product categories, and he also stated that the company is “hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software, and services that we can’t wait to introduce this fall and throughout 2014.”
Accordingly, investors should wait until this product cycle plays out to make an informed judgment about Tim Cook’s success or failure. Tim Cook set a clear goal for himself by setting a timeframe for new products and raising expectations for what would be coming. At the end of next year, if Apple’s existing product lines have continued to stagnate and no new product line has arrived, it will be fair to blame Cook for not delivering results. As an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shareholder, I’m willing to give him that amount of time to impress me (and the rest of the world). I don’t think I will be disappointed.
The article Apple’s Tim Cook Deserves Time originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Adam Levine-Weinberg.
Fool contributor Adam Levine-Weinberg owns shares of Apple and is short shares of Amazon.com. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, and Google.
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