Nothing Has Changed at Apple
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- I had a few folks catcall me after Apple's (AAPL) - Get Reportsolid Tuesday earnings report for the June quarter.
I'm not sure why. Any
Apple death pronouncements I have made
come attached to the following qualifier or something similar:
Apple remains present-day dominant. They do not need to be revolutionary with their current product line. I love my iPhone, iPad and Macbook with Retina Display. It doesn't matter to me if Apple sells 30 or 31 million iPhones or 14 or 15 million iPads in a quarter. Splitting hairs is a waste of time. That said, with the way Tim Cook runs the company -- counter, in so many ways, to Steve Jobs -- I'm concerned that Apple will not be able to maintain its dominance over the long-term ... or something worse
.
I express that very sentiment -- in one way, shape or form -- throughout
my article history
, but most pointedly in episodes such as:
I post links to these stories to ensure there's an actual record in one tidy place. In other words, it's best practice to leave several trails of evidence.
I have no issue with being wrong, just a small bit of angst over being misrepresented.
Nothing has changed at Apple. It's, by and large, going down just the way I expected. Apple continues to dominate. And you really cannot compare the company's results to what you see from
Samsung
and
Google's
(GOOG) - Get Report
Android. Apple is not -- and hopefully never will be -- a marketshare story. Where marketshare matters more -- the tablet market -- Apple dominates over Google and inferior competitors such as
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
and
Blackberry
(BBRY)
. There has never been a doubt.
However, doubt lingers over the future. At some point in the next six to nine months, we'll be able to assign at least some level of "right" and "wrong" to people who express long-term Apple opinions. To that end, I'm on record as saying a) Tim Cook operates in opposition to the way I think Steve Jobs would have too often and b) Apple should stick to what brought it to the dance --
-- if it intends to remain best of breed.
Painfully straightforward.
Tim Cook has -- at maximum -- 180 to 270 days to stop Apple from snatching mediocrity from the jaws of greatness. If he doesn't, talk about him
will dominate the conversation. (I never would have hired him in the first place).
--
Written by Rocco Pendola in Santa Monica, Calif.
Rocco Pendola is
TheStreet's
Director of Social Media. Pendola's daily contributions to
TheStreet
frequently appear on
CNBC
and at various top online properties, such as
Forbes
.