Does Apple have an innovation problem? This article will consider Apple's current product innovation, it will argue that the company would do well to heed the words of its enigmatic co-founder or face problems in the future.

Steve Jobs’ last words to current Apple CEO, Tim Cook, were “don’t do anything just because Steve Jobs wouldn’t”. Cook describes this as one of the most liberating moments of his life. This is no surprise. Apple epitomized the extreme top-down company. Almost everything came from the tyrannical yet creative genius of Jobs. However, it is these words which could be directing Apple down the wrong path.

Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985, due to disputes with the board. Over the next decade, Apple endured a market share contraction of 30%. Apple had failed to innovate within this timeframe. Accordingly, Jobs was rehired in 1997 to reinvigorate the company. He did so with real conviction and impetus.

He immediately cut 70% of Apple’s product line, including printers and servers, triggering a major shift in the culture of Apple: focus on a handful of products and perfect them. What came from this philosophy were 3 breakthrough innovations: the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Such focus generated huge success. The iPod obliterated Sony’s market-leading Walkman. The iPhone obliterated the Blackberry’s market-leading Storm. And the iPad has transformed the entire computer industry.

Since Jobs passed away, Apple’s new products do not compare to the ingenuity of these 3. The Apple Watch remains primitive and has hardly gained the traction that the iPod and iPhone received upon launch. The Apple Homepod is universally considered a failure and is significantly less intuitive than the Google Home and Amazon Echo. Even their services have suffered; Apple Music was late to the party, enabling Spotify to dominate the market and the Apple TV has repeatedly failed to take off.

Evidently, Apple are trying to innovate. But they are trying to innovate in everything. The company now sells 27 products and has extended lines within each product. Apple sold just over 10 products when Jobs was CEO. This is the problem. Jobs was very much a minimalist (as previously mentioned, he eliminated most of their products when he was reassigned in 1997). However, it appears Apple are now returning to their previous culture of a broad but less valuable product range – the exact approach that led them to the precipice of insolvency 20 years ago.

Let’s compare Apple’s most recent product, the iPhone X, with the Steve Jobs mentality. Jobs believed the iPhone screen should be no larger than 5.5 inch; the X is 6.5 inch. Jobs was obsessed with simplicity and minimalism; Apple have released a multitude of products such as the X, XR, XS, XS Max which is both confusing and immoderate for the customer. Jobs pioneered innovations and neglected competition as he felt it downplayed their own ability to innovate; the X’s quasi-unique features of ‘facial recognition’ for password and ‘dust-water resistance’ have existed in Samsung products years before the X was released.

They say history never repeats itself, but a disregard to the values of their Co-Founder could have adverse effects for the brand, similar to what unfolded in the 90s. Just 3 weeks ago, Apple announced it will no longer report iPhone sales. In fact, today Apple were fined £10m for “planned obsolescence” – software updates to older iPhone models that intentionally reduced performance, with the incentive to hasten purchases of newer models, such as the X. No longer releasing sales reports combined with an immoral act of despair to boost sales of new models is only suggestive that their iPhone sales have lulled. Bearing in mind that 60% of its revenue derives from the iPhone, this could be detrimental.

The values of Jobs were steeped in experience, loyalty and high value products: everything was fixated on the customer. Tim Cook, however, seems to be more fixated on profit. They have gone from one of the least acquisitive tech firms to a monopolistic corporation. They are now releasing products regularly with little innovation, yet inflated prices. The company has transformed from a pioneer in next year’s device to a master in optimizing and beautifying last year’s device. It makes you question how much longer Apple can demand such high, premium pricing if alternative technologies start to become more sophisticated, more relevant and cheaper?

Without the foresight of the prophetic Steve Jobs, Apple may miss out on the next wave of innovation. Picture the future ten years from now: Amazon drones pervading the skies; Tesla driverless, electric cars operating the roads; Google Home rendering your house smart, in which your cooker, bath and TV are digitally interconnected. What about Apple? Surely another iteration of the iPhone will not suffice? It’s ironic because Apple just won the race to the trillion-dollar mark. Of course, they are not going anywhere anytime soon, but perhaps the ripening of the Apple has reached a saturation point.