You’re getting a lot of answers that aren’t outright wrong, but don’t really answer your question of “Why is Apple successful where other companies aren’t.” Or

You’re getting a lot of answers that aren’t outright wrong, but don’t really answer your question of “Why is Apple successful where other companies aren’t.” Or phrased another way, “Why does Apple repeatedly innovate new product categories where other companies can’t?” As others have pointed out, lots of companies attempt the same thing as Apple and fail before Apple is successful. Others point to marketing, timing, etc as reasons, which I think losses what is fundamentally different about Apple’s approach. Apple is focused on products, and the user experience, where other companies are focused on technologies. Jobs seems to have built this approach into Apple’s DNA. There are key differentiators for every product example where “someone else did it first.” For the iPod, no one took the time to deeply consider an interface like the scroll wheel, or a music library (instead of folders). For tablets, other companies considered it from a perspective of bolting it on to their current offerings, instead of rethinking how it enabled new kinds of interactions. For wireless headphones, no other company prioritized size and effortless pairing. That is, in all of these, no company approached the products uniquely from the customer’s perspective and a blank slate, and only then deeply dove into what technology would enable (or forcing the enabling technology into existence). I think that is the unique thing about Apple. They are excellent technologists and have incredible manufacturing capability, but so do other companies. No other company is so purely driven by the user, nor has such long horizons for decisions (ie, patience), nor has the leverage to create enabling technologies. This is what Wall Street has totally failed to understand about Apple for decades, and I think a lot of nerds do, too.