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Peter Thiel 'Confirms' the 'Age of Apple is Over,' But Says It's Not Tim Cook's Fault

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In a "Confirm or Deny" feature by The New York Times this week, PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel "confirmed" that "the age of Apple is over" based on his belief that smartphones will lack further innovation.
The age of Apple is over.

Confirm. We know what a smartphone looks like and does. It's not the fault of Tim Cook, but it's not an area where there will be any more innovation.
Click to expand...
While the iPhone has become a familiar product as it turns ten, which perhaps makes it less exciting to some, to say smartphones are not an area where there will be any more innovation will certainly fuel a debate. And, of course, while the iPhone is Apple's most profitable product, it's not its only.

Thiel's comment can be argued one way or the other, but it does raise the question of what Apple's next "one more thing" will be after annual iPhone sales declined for the first time amid an uncharacteristically down year for Apple--perhaps something in the augmented reality or electric vehicle spaces? Will this be the year Apple pushes deeper into artificial intelligence with Siri and an Echo-like device?

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has routinely teased about what's around the corner. Last year, he said Apple has "great innovation in the pipeline," including "things you can't live without that you just don't know you need today." Likewise, he told employees last month that Apple has "great desktops in our roadmap," and earlier this week he said "the best is yet to come" for iPhone.

Article Link: Peter Thiel 'Confirms' the 'Age of Apple is Over,' But Says It's Not Tim Cook's Fault
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/12/peter-thiel-age-of-apple-is-over/
E

err404

macrumors 68030
Mar 4, 2007
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Nobody knows what the next big thing will be, but there is no reason to believe that Apple won't be a major player in whatever it is.
At a minimum they have their hands in the next three obvious areas; Home automation, Voice controlled personal assistant and Self driving cars.
 
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Dave245

Dave245

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Sep 15, 2013
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This guy doesn't know what he's talking about, how do any of us know that there is no more innovation in the smartphone area, just because we know what smartphones look like doesn't mean there isn't any more innovation, innovation itself isn't just tied to what something looks like. Before Apple released the iPhone, mobiles had keyboards and were terrible to use but the form factor was more or less the same, Apple came along and gave us the iPhone. The same with the iPad really.
 
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bstv69

macrumors newbie
May 17, 2010
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Yea it's Jon Ive's fault. His unchecked hardon for thinness has destroyed the company. Maybe if they got a couple engineers to actually keep him in check and remind him no one gives a **** about thickness at this point they wouldn't be having these issues. Phone and computer thickness hit its plateau a long time ago people would rather their devices be more powerful and last longer than 1mm thinner. When the rest of the company's exec and shareholders realize this, then maybe apple can rebound
 
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muadibe

macrumors 6502
Oct 11, 2010
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Does Apple really owe us anything? Not really. They make products and we either buy them or we don't. So this notion that Apple owes us innovation is a bit silly. As is making the statement that innovation in phones is done. That's placing some arbitrary limit on ideas.

Let's assume for a minute that Apple sells only the iPhone. By the time they finish growing their installed base, they'd be making a sizable amount on services. And every year, a huge number of that installed base will be buying the new phone.
No, we wouldn't see the kind of growth as in the past, but that can't continue indefinitely anyway.
 
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andy.ringwood

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Nov 20, 2016
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Number-Six said:
Are you aiming to prove your first sentence with your second one?

Because people have been saying that for years ...
Click to expand...

People haven't been saying that for years. They've ordered OLED panels for goodness sake. They'll finally change screen technology and it'll have a major redesign. Come back in September and tell me I'm wrong. Ta.
 
DUIduckSAUCE

DUIduckSAUCE

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Sep 12, 2016
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The thing all of these tech people don't understand is that apple is a fashion company. People want to own and be seen with the latest apple tech. it doesn't really matter if has significant improvements, as long as it is perceived as being "cool", people will want it.
 
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NufSaid

NufSaid

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Oct 28, 2015
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Jobs said it when he said that you are fortunate to work on one ground breaking product in your lifetime. The issue becomes what is the next revolution for Apple. It likely isn't going to be a revolution...they can try.

But WHY do they have to change an industry with a new product every year?
Can't they just make great products that tech blogs can gripe about (but secretly love) so that they can get clicks?

Apple makes all the profits in the smartphone industry (who cares if you sell phones if you don't make money at it). They dominate in customer satisfaction and the quality is second to none. Let them make products with incremental improvements that work and enjoy life...have fun creating and using these products and stop demanding a ground breaking revolution every year.
 
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niun

niun

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Mar 31, 2015
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MacRumors said:
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has routinely teased about what's around the corner. Last year, he said Apple has "great innovation in the pipeline," including "things you can't live without that you just don't know you need today." Likewise, he told employees last month that Apple has "great desktops in our roadmap," and earlier this week he said "the best is yet to come" for iPhone.
Click to expand...

That's the trouble though. TC is just a constant tease without actually giving up the goods.
 
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