> I mean PA semi was purchased in 2008 and the first A4 processor was 2010, the writing was already on the wall a good decade out. Is this similar to how AMD's

> I mean PA semi was purchased in 2008 and the first A4 processor was 2010, the writing was already on the wall a good decade out. Is this similar to how AMD's Bulldozer architecture back around that timeframe was the writing was on the wall for their current competitive dominance over Intel? PA Semi was a great talent accu-hire, but AFAIK at the time of acquisition they only had Power-based designs ready for market. > It kind of feels like Steve picked the last of the low hanging fruit and then bowed out before it came to stagnation. PT Barnum was a renowned showman as well, but that doesn't mean he trained all the elephants. For instance, I would hardly say the release of a market-dominating phone was a foregone conclusion based on the success of the iPod, and an Apple without the iPhone would look incredibly different. Sure, people wanted to take their music with them, but the nearly purely multitouch interface was a fresh invention - the iPod did not have a touch interface AFAIK until three years later. I just don't see something which was such a fresh take and new engineering - to the point that other smartphone vendors thought the original keynote demos were staged - was low-hanging fruit.