Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘People confuse innovation with change’ | Marketing Interactive

“There are so many people who confuse innovation with change,” Apple CEO Tim Cook (pictured left) said, explaining that these individuals become convinced that innovation is just pure and simple change. But Apple doesn’t see it that way. For Apple, its secret is to realise that innovation is about making things better.

“Innovation is making things better and not just merely changing. And that requires a depth of fall which is well beyond merely changing something,” Cook said during a fireside chat with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff (pictured right) at the Salesforce Dreamforce 2019 conference. In this year alone, Apple has released a slew of new products in the market. These range from the latest iPhone 11 to noise-cancelling AirPods Pro, which the company claimed was produced out of consumer feedback.

According to Cook, Apple’s motto through all the launches is to create the world’s best products which is also what consumers want. “With that kind of filter, we try our best to do the best we can,” he said, adding:

If we can’t do both of those, we will pass and go on to the next thing.

Apple, which was birthed in the early 1970s, is currently a globally acclaimed brand. In 2018, research company Strategy Analytics said Apple captured a 51% global smartphone revenue share, which was more than the rest of the industry combined. Surprisingly, Apple never set out the objective to be the first, but rather to be the best.

“We never set [the objective] to make the most [money] but to be the best and to have the best. That north star has helped guide us through temptations of going for market share and other kinds of things. We just want to make the best products and if we can do that, we can have an ok business and invest into the next realms,” Cook revealed.

Cook who took on the role of CEO shortly before Steve Jobs passed on has been advancing innovations across the company. That, he said, was one of the two things Apple needed to do to move forward as advised by Jobs. The other thing is to stay true to the company’s values. According to Cook, Apple cares deeply about privacy in all of its products.

Privacy is very important to us and we view it as a fundamental human right.

He explained that the company aims to be the steward of the world, and has consistently doubled down on privacy. “We didn’t merely do the things we were required to do but we wanted to go beyond,” he said.

The company first set out a goal to run on 100% renewable energy, and claims to have succeeded in doing so. Next on its checklist is to think broader and how Apple could do the ripple in the pond. As such, the company will only take in recycled materials for its products and not something that had to be dug out of Earth.

“Most people said there is no way we can do it, but it is the same people who said we can’t run Apple with a 100% renewable energy,” Cook added.

Meanwhile, a JP Morgan analyst too recently said Apple could potentially increase revenue by one-third annually, and from advertising alone due to the roll out of streaming service Apple TV+ and its entry into digital services. Quoting analyst Samik Chatterjee, Reuters reported that Apple could amass “the stellar growth” witnessed by Facebook and Google in recent years by leveraging the “millions of users” that search its App Store and Safari browser on a daily basis. Chatterjee added that Apple could potentially increase revenue by one-third annually, from about US$2 billion to US$11 billion in 2025.

Apple also announced its partnership with Salesforce during Dreamforce 2019, to launch two flagship apps – the redesigned Salesforce Mobile App and the new Trailhead GO learning app. The companies also announced the next-generation Salesforce Mobile SDK, empowering developers to easily build and deploy native apps for iPhone and iPad on the Salesforce Platform. Apple and Salesforce announced a strategic partnership at Dreamforce 2018.

The Salesforce Mobile App will deliver a new user experience enabled by Einstein, with advanced analytics and features exclusive to iOS, including Siri shortcuts and Face ID. Meanwhile, Trailhead GO is Salesforce’s free online learning platform used by individuals to skill up for the jobs of today and tomorrow. With Trailhead GO, learners now have access anywhere and at anytime to more than 700 modules covering in-demand business and tech skills — including trails such as Get Started with iOS App Development, which teaches developers at any level how to build native apps.

Susan Prescott, Apple’s VP of product marketing for apps, markets and services said: “With brand new Salesforce Mobile apps exclusive to iOS and iPadOS, and an enhanced SDK that supports the latest advancements in Swift, Apple together with Salesforce offers customers strong privacy, powerful multitasking and the best user experience in business on iPhone and iPad.”

“With Salesforce Mobile, Salesforce and Apple are empowering sales, service and marketing professionals on the go to deliver game-changing customer experiences, powered by AI. And with Trailhead GO, millions more can now skill up for free, anytime and anywhere, to learn in-demand skills and fill the jobs of today and tomorrow,” said Bret Taylor, president and chief product officer, Salesforce added.

Salesforce paid for the journalist’s trip to Dreamforce 2019 held in San Francisco.