According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, just because Apple doesn’t build products with Wall Street in mind doesn’t mean they’re not interested in making money. In fact, Cook says that the company’s focus is actually better for its profitability.
As a part of the question-and-answer period during Apple’s third quarter earnings call, Tim Cook was asked by Steve Milunovich of UBS about whether the company takes Wall Street into account when creating new products, or if Apple ignores fiscal metrics when creating things.
Cook challenged the idea of a dichotomy between focusing on products and focusing on revenues. His philosophy is that creating a strong product leads to fiscal growth, and that focusing on hitting financial targets rather than creating a solid product can end up backfiring.
“We start at the product because we believe that the most important thing is that the customers love the product and want them,” Cook said. Otherwise, you end up creating a product that the customer doesn’t want, and won’t sell well as a consequence.
It seems like that approach is working. Apple’s Q3 results show another quarter with higher revenues and profits than both Microsoft and Google, though profits were down a bit for the iPhone maker when compared to the previous quarter.
Previously on GeekWire: Apple sells 31.2 million iPhones and 14.6 million iPads in Q3, but profit growth slows … Apple CEO Tim Cook: Premium smartphone market not saturated
