Tim Cook Says Apple Working on 'Some Really Great Stuff' in New Product Categories

Thursday February 6, 2014 7:58 pm PST by Jordan Golson
Tim CookApple will launch products in new categories and the company is working on "really great stuff", according to an interview with CEO Tim Cook in The Wall Street Journal this evening.

He demurred when asked about specific possible products, but said anyone "reasonable" would consider Apple's upcoming products to be in new categories.

Cook has said on prior occasions that new product categories are coming for Apple in 2014 and, with this interview, he is likely looking to encourage spooked investors that Apple is still focused on growth.

Cook said in the interview that Apple remains a "growth company" and has significant opportunities in existing products as well as new ones. In addition, Apple strives to be the number one smartphone, tablet, and computer maker in the world.
He said his statement that Apple doesn't aim to make the most phones has been misunderstood.

"I don't view that as being satisfied with being small or however you want to define it," he said. "I just want to say that the macro thing for us is making a great product and we must do that. If we can't do that, we're not going to force ourselves to hit a price point that makes us produce a product that we're not proud of because we lose who we are in that. We're not going to do that."
Apple executives have repeatedly said that they are only interested in making the best products in the world, not generating revenue for revenue's sake. Tim Cook has previously said that Apple is "focused on making great products that enrich lives" and that the company is "deeply committed to doing this and maniacally focused on it." He said last month that innovation is "deeply embedded" at the company and that Apple has "no issue" coming up with new ideas.

Elsewhere in the interview Cook revealed that Apple has repurchased $14 billion in stock over the past two weeks, and that the company is open to making large acquisitions if it makes sense.

Tag: Tim Cook
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macfacts
76 months ago
Every year the same story.
Rating: 44 Votes
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everything-i
76 months ago
Well what do they expect him to say, 'We have no idea what we are doing now and Jony Ive just sits in a bar drinking all day with the rest of the design team.' Of course they are working on new stuff and I'm pretty sure they think its great otherwise they wouldn't be working on it.:rolleyes:
Rating: 16 Votes
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Jsameds
76 months ago
Am I the only one who read "really great stuff" in Tim's accent?
Rating: 13 Votes
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flottenheimer
76 months ago
I'm a believer.
Everything comes to those who wait.

And to all those "Apple is so far behind now, they are not innovating anymore"-rants:

—Would people have been happy had Apple released the Samsung 'smart'watch with an Apple logo on it?
—Would people have been happy had Apple released the two-completely-different-OS'es-in-one-package that is Windows 8?
—Would people have been happy had Apple released the Logitech PowerShell?
—Or the LG G Flex, the Pebble, the Fitbit Force, the Chromecast, the Nintendo 2DS, the Acer Aspire R7, all the added features to Android on Samsung phones ... etc. etc.

Exactly where is the innovation that has left Apple in the dust? What are those exact products that are both innovative, useful and close to perfect?

As far as I can tell, Apple is at the very front of this race. Revolutions like the touch-enabled smartphone, the tablet and the App Store don't and won't come around every year, but when they do, I feel convinced that Apple will play an important role.

Until then we will have to do with useful, incremental innovation — Like, say, retina displays, fingerprint readers, awesome battery life, more processing power and everything becoming thinner.
Rating: 7 Votes
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Ddyracer
76 months ago
i hate when he says this. is this going to become a every year thing?

My mom said, "Cook more talk less" i agree.
Rating: 7 Votes
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TC03
76 months ago

Well what do they expect him to say, 'We have no idea what we are doing now and Jony Ive just sits in a bar drinking all day with the rest of the design team.' Of course they are working on new stuff and I'm pretty sure they think its great otherwise they wouldn't be working on it.:rolleyes:

This seems to be a typical working day for Jony since Forstall left.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Sir Ruben
76 months ago
I have a lot of respect for Tim, but this isnt news. Tim ALWAYS says great things are coming, its a standard reply that he gives in interviews and I dont think it warrants an article.

If Tim is all about making great products rather than lots of different products how about he fixes Safari in iOS7 so that it doesnt crash all the time? I think that would be a good place to start because to be honest its bugging me to the point where my excitement for new products like the iWatch are fading. See, I dont have a problem with shelling out much more cash than I should for Apple's premium products, however I do have a problem when they most basic of functions dont work properly.
Rating: 6 Votes
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macnisse
76 months ago
Ok Tim, bring it.
Rating: 5 Votes
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pmau
76 months ago

In other news... The sky is blue...


Nope ... it's not.

Anyways, I totally agree that all the negativity regarding Apple, its revenue or ability to innovate are totally out of proportion.

The MacPro is a risk, the MacBook Pro Retina was a risk, iOS7 was a risk.
All of those products made a statement to the consumer that said:

"We would like to change the perception of what customers should buy."

Notebooks without DVD, without harddrives, without Ethernet.
All of these could have failed big time and lots of people complained.

But Apple designed it in ways that only leaves one choice to the competition. And that is "Design something similar."

As long as there is no product that is not only cheaper, uses a preferred ecosystem or just has a larger screen, Apple is save.

For the last few years, there has been no innovation at all from any hardware vendor. I will not list all these products.

Ofcourse Android phones have a bigger market share, but innovation is not something that anyone is really focusing on.
Rating: 4 Votes
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malexandria
76 months ago
Bugs

Just fix all the bugs and bad UI choices in iOS7. I wish MS was a ballsy and Apple was and call them out on how awful iOS7 is. It truly is their Vista and honestly I never had an issue with Vista. iOS7 Crashes ALL the time and drives me nuts. My iPhone 4s never crashed under iOS6, it's why I never switched to Android or Windows Phone because it was bullet proof. Now it is just garbage, even my over priced iPad Air crashes 3 or 4 times a day - especially Safari.
Rating: 4 Votes

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