Microsoft had a stylus and a word processor on PocketPC handhelds long before the iPhone, and Apple had them on the Newton, though Palm was there first....
Going back to 1989, Microsoft had a stylus-operated tablet with the GRiDPad, which was running MS-DOS with Extensions for Pen Computing.
SketchPad was innovative. Otherwise, such claims generally tend to illustrate that the claimant doesn't know enough computer history...
Well, I agree with them not being innovators but they definitely made a marketable product. It's the same thing for which business circles praise Apple. Apple turn already known things into a marketable package which is not so different from what Microsoft did here. That's what being a device manufacturer is about.
Innovations come in small bursts. Take the Surface Hub as an example.
Going back to 1989, Microsoft had a stylus-operated tablet with the GRiDPad, which was running MS-DOS with Extensions for Pen Computing.
SketchPad was innovative. Otherwise, such claims generally tend to illustrate that the claimant doesn't know enough computer history...