Tim Cook: We Love to Work on Products Where Hardware, Software, and Services Intersect

During today's earnings call covering the first fiscal quarter of 2021 (fourth calendar quarter of 2020), Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked to provide a framework for how Apple evaluates product opportunities in new markets.

Cook of course declined to give specific information, but he did provide some insight into what Apple considers when making a decision on whether to develop a product.
Apple car wheel icon feature teal

The framework that we use is around 'Is this a product that we would want to use?' That's a pretty high bar. Is it a big enough market to be in? Unless it's an adjacency product, then it's about customer experience.

There's no set way that we're looking at it. No formula. But we take into account all of those things.

Cook said that Apple "loves to work on" products where there's a requirement that hardware, software, and services come together. "We believe that the magic really occurs at that intersection."

He also went to explain that Apple still has growth opportunities for its current portfolio of products.

I think that we have some really good opportunities out there, and if you look at our current portfolio of products, we still have relatively low share in a number of cases in very big markets. We feel that we have really good upside there and good upside in the services area too, which we've been working on for some time with coming online in the last year to year plus.

Though Cook gave no specifics, there are established rumors that indicate Apple is working on an electric self-driving vehicle and some kind of AR/VR headset, both of which are future products that will mark Apple breaking into new markets.

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Top Rated Comments

ouimetnick Avatar
50 months ago
I love how the bra case works, how integrated the charging of Magic Mouse is and the nifty handle to hold the iPad as a sign. Also works as a pencil.

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Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bobbie424242 Avatar
50 months ago
Let me fix the title: "Tim Cook: We love to work on products where Money, Money, and Money intersect. And we don't like leaving Money on the table. And I'm excited about AR, but that's off-topic"
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dumoore Avatar
50 months ago
Apple will find a way to charge me a monthly payment to start my car. Apple CarStarter+
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jmgregory1 Avatar
50 months ago
If this is how Apple decides what products to go forward with, I wonder why they haven’t launched an Apple branded television set? I can’t imagine that product developers there wouldn’t want to use an Apple branded television set. And it’s clearly a convergence point for hardware, software and services. It’s also such a natural next step from small screened iPhones, iPads, MacBooks.

Perhaps their investments in mini and micro-LED will at some point translate into television screens.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
50 months ago
Article: Cook said that Apple "loves to work on" products where there's a requirement that hardware, software, and services come together. "We believe that the magic really occurs at that intersection."

I agree with Tim. Apple does a good job with integrating features across its products in my opinion. It is one of the reasons I stay with Apple. That doesn't mean that the integration has been seamless or bug free so, don't misinterpret my appreciation as blind praise.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
50 months ago
Realistically, Apple’s products sell themselves, when consumers generally know what they want for the most part. It’s the services that I think long-term hold customers together when you experience iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and how everything just integrates together in terms of communication and tethering, and of course security is just crucially as important anything tech related.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)