Tim Cook may be considered an operations genius, but during his stint as Apple CEO product delays have increased substantially compared to Apple under Steve Jobs.
That’s according to a new report, which points out that there have been delays with the launch of several major new products launched by Cook as CEO. Meanwhile, the average length of time between Apple announcing a new product and shipping it stands at 23 days over the past six years, compared to 11 days’ average for the six years previous.
As the Wall Street Journal writes:
“Longer lead times between announcement and product release have the potential to hurt Apple on multiple fronts. Delays give rivals time to react, something the company tried to prevent in the past by keeping lead times short, analysts and former Apple employees said. They can stoke customer disappointment and have cost Apple sales.
Production issues contributed to the company largely missing the important Christmas shopping season with its two newest products, AirPods and HomePods. When the $349 HomePod was unveiled in June, Apple touted its superior sound and said it would be ready in December. Then it announced in November that shipment would be delayed until this year, causing it to lose out on a gift-giving season when such smart speakers were big sellers. Apple hasn’t yet given a new arrival estimate.”
Elsewhere in the report, the authors observe that both Cook and Jobs have now personally overseen the launch of around 70-plus new and updated products during their stints as CEO. During Jobs’ reign, only one product was delayed by more than three months, while seven took between 1-3 months to ship after the initial announcement. Under Cook, meanwhile, five have had a delay in announcement and shipping of three months or more, and nine have had delayed of between 1-3 months.
The report makes for some interesting reading, but it’s important to note that the comparison isn’t exactly apples and, well, Apples. The quantity of products that Apple is shipping today dwarfs what Apple did under Steve Jobs. Revenue has more than doubled. Apple is operating in more markets than ever. In years during which Jobs ran Apple throughout, the iPhone never sold more than 40 million units. During 2015, Cook’s best year for iPhone sales, Apple sold 231 million iPhone units.
Delays are never ideal, but the mistakes Apple has made that stick in people’s minds are rarely product delays, so much as issues that have to do with hitting a yearly upgrade cycle, allowing potential problems to be overlooked. Apple has never missed a launch date for the iPhone, its most important product, and managed to beat just about every expectation to get the iPhone into people’s hands. (Whether this is due to lack of demand or just increased efficiency is something we’ll find out in early February.)
Do you think delays are a fair criticism of Tim Cook’s tenure as Apple CEO? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
6 responses to “Delayed Apple products more common under Tim Cook”
If they rush out incomplete stuff they will lose trust and that will hurt the company badly. I have trust in Apple to realese good quality products and that is why i buy them on release day.
I am looking forward to Homepod. I will buy it the second they realese it.
I’d personally rather a delayed product that comes out perfect or almost than a rushed product that blows up in my shorts or otherwise has problems. Apple’s been pretty good at delivering complete, high quality products, so if they delay something, I’m not really going to question them. It’s too bad for them that the HomePod got delayed though, because Christmas would really have helped it. Oh well.
Two points:
First, Steve and Tim both have different products under their leadership, with different technologies, and different development/requirements. Comparison pointless.
Second, Tim has sold more iPhones because the iPhone is now part of our society in such a fundamental way (and of course other phones… the mobile device in general), whereas when Steve had the iPhone come out, these devices weren’t as ubiquitous as they are now. Again, comparison pointless.
The fact is, the time and products are different. You can’t expect manufacturing processes and development on products that have the kind of tech we have now to take pound for pound the same as they did between 2007 and 2012. It’s just not a good point of judgement.
Agreed… Apple is so much larger then when Steve came back. I can only imagine the production issues they have to deal with now.
lol he’s not an operations genius…. iPhones have been widely delayed in terms of shipments throughout his tenure. Additionally, products have missed the mark on supply. Think about Apple Watch… Some didn’t get the first gen until August and they had no in-store stock.
I think people mis-understand how Apple is able to deliver so many great products. One of Apple’s basic principles is that they don’t ship until the customer says wow! By following this principle, Apple ships fewer products that are half baked or don’t really work. Apple’s not perfect and they still have duds, but over the span of decades they’ve had more hits than most.
The observation that there have been more product delays with Tim Cook as CEO is in some ways a positive sign. It means he has the discipline not to ship junk. The reason Apple didn’t ship the HomePod this year for example is not because they couldn’t deliver the hardware, but because it isn’t good enough yet. Unless the HomePod adds some unique value that is much better than the Amazon Echo or Google Home, it has no reason to exist. Unlike much of the tech industry, Apple get’s this.
I’m sure some people will think I’m just an apologist for Apple and that’s OK. Apple will continue to deliver peerless products that delight their customers and that’s what Apple fans really want.