No. of Recommendations: 20
“Apple Watch is meh? Really?
Apple is the undisputed global leader in smartwatches and has outsold the entire Swiss watch industry—in units—for seven straight years. It’s not even close. That’s not a side project; that’s the creation and conquest of an entirely new consumer category.
Since Tim Cook took over, Apple hasn’t just ‘played it safe’—the company has grown several-fold from what he inherited, while investing at historic levels in world-leading R&D, supply-chain dominance, and an ecosystem that’s become an almost impenetrable moat. Not EV moonshots, not crypto sideshows—investment in core products and the platform that ties them together.
Yes, Siri and Apple’s AI posture lag—and that needs to be fixed. But this dominance gives Apple something incredibly valuable: time and space. They have a massive, loyal, and unusually forgiving consumer base that allows them to address weaknesses without existential risk. That kind of trust is RARE—and powerful.
And let’s not ignore one of the most shareholder-friendly capital allocation strategies in corporate history: hundreds of billions returned via buybacks, dramatically increasing ownership for long-term holders, us. That’s not financial engineering—it’s confidence in the business.
As for autos? Apple didn’t need to build a car to win. The auto industry hates that consumers insist on Apple CarPlay. GM, Ford, Hyundai, etc —are all effectively forced to cede control of their own in-car software experience to Apple. That’s power. Apple is a major player in auto-across the board--and it's driving the industry nuts! They can't keep Apple out of THEIR OWN VEHICLES.
You can argue Apple isn’t flashy anymore. Fair.
This is disciplined dominance.
