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Apple CEO Tim Cook: It 'Means More to Us to Get it Right' Than to Be First

Wednesday April 23, 2014 2:58 pm PDT by Juli Clover
During the question and answer portion of today's financial earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained why the company has been slow to put products out in 2014, pointing towards the company’s attention to detail and its desire to "perform at a really high level of quality" that Apple's customers expect.

Cook noted that Apple did not ship the first MP3 player, smartphone, or tablet, but he said that the company did release the first "acceptable" and "modern" smartphone, tablet, and MP3 player when it launched the iPhone, iPad, and iPod.

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"We care about every detail and it takes us a bit longer to do that. That's always been the case," he said. "It means more to us to get it right than to be first."

Cook pointed towards examples in the marketplace where the clear objective was to be first, possibly referring to Samsung and its poorly received Galaxy Gear smart watch. Apple customers "want great, insanely great," said Cook, and "that’s what we want to deliver."

According to Cook, Apple has many products in the pipeline that the company is excited about, but it is not yet ready to "pull the string on the curtain." He did say, however, that Apple has expanded the number of things the company is working on behind the scenes.

Tag: Tim Cook
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zmanfx
59 months ago

"It means more to us to get it right than to be first"

iOS 7 would like a word with you.


iOS 7 has been the most exciting release in a long time for me. And I love it. If you let it... will grow on you. Problem is people a lot of times refuse to accept change, even if it's for the better. They immediately discredit it for garbage.
Rating: 59 Votes
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WhackyNinja
59 months ago
"It means more to us to get it right than to be first"

iOS 7 would like a word with you.
Rating: 47 Votes
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sualpine
59 months ago
But, but, Samsung. But but, extra features...
But, but... Android can this and that...
Rating: 28 Votes
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zmanfx
59 months ago
This is very evident. This is why I like Apple's things. They take their time and get it right. Unlike Samsung who will rush **** products to market, and then nobody ends up using them because they are gimmicks or unusable to start out with.
Rating: 25 Votes
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keysofanxiety
59 months ago

Is that so? Explan iOS 7, iWork and Final Cut Pro X then.


Congratulations on recycling the most well-known complaints. I'd bet my left nut that you've never even used Final Cut Pro 7, let alone FCP X.

Why are you even here?
Rating: 24 Votes
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Fondaparinux
59 months ago


"We care about every detail and it takes us a bit longer to do that. That's always been the case," he said. "It means more to us to get it right than to be first."


Is that so? Explan iOS 7, iWork and Final Cut Pro X then.
Rating: 21 Votes
Avatar
Renzatic
59 months ago

iOS 7 has been the most exciting release in a long time for me. And I love it. If you let it... will grow on you. Problem is people a lot of times refuse to accept change, even if it's for the better. They immediately discredit it for garbage.


I don't get all the hate over iOS7, either. Yeah, some of the icons do look a bit cheesy, and it was a little chuggity on my iPhone 4, but 7.1 fixed most of the problems of the latter, and now it feels like a solid update.

Like anything, it could be better, but it's hardly OMG THEY RUINED IT FOREVER!
Rating: 18 Votes
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skywalkerr69
59 months ago
You go Tim! You tell those "Analysts"!
Rating: 17 Votes
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AppleAlex!
59 months ago
So no iWatch yet Tim?

Guess Ill go back to my cave, wake me up in a few years
(I completely agree with the way Apple approach new product markets, much like they have before. Its not being the first, its being the best)
Rating: 15 Votes
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kagharaht
59 months ago
One just needs to take a look how S5 Fingerprint Access works to understand what TC is talking about. Rather than follow, Apple develop TouchID to work amazingly well. Specially with 7.1.1 update. Suddenly accessing a locked smartphone is no longer an inconvenience. Apple implementation of fingerprint access to a locked smartphone is just perfect and incredibly fast and easy.
Rating: 12 Votes

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