Apple Has Done "Nothing New" Since Steve Jobs Died, Says PayPal Co-founder Peter Thiel

Billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has criticised Apple for failing to deliver major innovations since the death of its co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, arguing that the company has focused more on growth and branding than groundbreaking products. Thiel made the remarks in an interview with author Walter Isaacson on The Builders podcast, recorded on September 16. The episode was released on October 22.

In the interview, Thiel said Apple had done little that was genuinely new since Jobs' death. He argued that the original iPhone was such a significant invention that the company had limited room for further breakthroughs, focusing instead on expanding its business and strengthening its brand.

"In my telling, it did nothing new after Jobs," Thiel said. "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," he added. 

Jobs introduced the first iPhone in 2007, transforming the smartphone industry. Since then, Apple has expanded its product range and built a massive consumer technology business.

Thiel also questioned Apple's direction after Jobs' death, suggesting that the company had lost some of its innovative spirit. He argued that Elon Musk or Jobs had contributed more to society than Apple's ex-CEO, Tim Cook.

However, Thiel acknowledged that Apple remained a successful business, describing it as a "pure, well-run value stock".

Apple has also faced scrutiny over its artificial intelligence strategy, particularly its efforts to improve Siri and compete with AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. However, the company continues to hold a strong position in the consumer technology market despite questions about its pace of innovation. Apple is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results on November 2.

This is not the first time Thiel has questioned Apple's future. In 2017, he declared that the company's era was over, arguing that smartphones offered limited scope for further innovation, Business Insider reported. "We know what a smartphone looks like and does. It's not the fault of Tim Cook, but it's not an area where there will be any more innovation," he said.