PayPal cofounder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel isn’t holding back on his thoughts regarding Apple. In a conversation with author Walter Isaacson on The Builders podcast, the venture capitalist argued that the tech giant hasn’t brought anything genuinely groundbreaking to the table since Steve Jobs passed away in 2011.While acknowledging that Apple remains a powerhouse financially, Thiel made a clear distinction between raw corporate profit and true technological innovation.
“Nothing New After Jobs”
During the interview, Thiel reflected on Apple’s trajectory over the past decade and a half, suggesting that the company has mostly been riding the momentum of the original 2007 iPhone launch rather than inventing the next big thing.“In my telling, it did nothing new after Jobs,” Thiel said during the recording. “It turned out, yeah, the mobile phone was this giant invention – there was not that much more to do. Then it was just scaling and branding and building it out over 15 years or whatever.”Since Jobs introduced the original iPhone, Apple has certainly broadened its ecosystem – expanding lines like the MacBook, iPad, and AirPods into everyday household devices. More recently, the company even stepped into new hardware territory with the release of its first foldable handset, the iPhone Duo. However, from Thiel’s perspective, polishing and scaling existing form factors isn’t the same as creating a whole new category.The company has also taken heat from critics over its broader software strategy, particularly as rival artificial intelligence tools from startups like OpenAI and Anthropic continue to capture public attention. Still, despite those critiques, Apple’s hardware ecosystem remains a dominant force in consumer tech across the globe.
Comparing Tim Cook with Elon Musk and Steve Jobs
Thiel was careful to clarify that he doesn’t consider Apple a failing company. In fact, he described it as a “pure, well-run value stock.” His real issue lies in what he views as a shift away from the bold, risk-heavy innovation that defined its early years.Comparing corporate leadership styles, Thiel openly expressed his preference for visionaries over operational managers. “I would still say somehow Elon or Steve Jobs are way better for society than Tim Cook,” he remarked, contrasting Apple’s current CEO with its late cofounder and Tesla’s chief executive.This isn’t the first time Thiel has voiced skepticism about the tech giant’s trajectory. Back in 2017, he famously declared during a New York Times interview that the era of smartphones was essentially over, arguing that the device had reached a point where meaningful, game-changing innovation was no longer possible.
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