To an extent. Most companies seem to aim for a product that does well on a feature-grid of checkboxes more than in actual use. Apple would (apparently) rather that they had half the checkboxes but that those things worked very, very well (or intuitively, or smoothly, or in a magical way, etc).
In other words, it's not as if an iPhone friendly multitasking setup was available and they just ripped it out so they could have a big reveal two years later. In their eyes at least, the "innovation" is that they did it in an "Apple way".
I think the point is that Apple poo-poos the idea that a phone even needs a background API, then releases a background API to great fanfare as if they were the first ones to have such an idea, all the while patting themselves on the back. (i.e. "We weren't the first ones to do multi-tasking, but we were the first ones to do multi-tasking on the iPhone! Yay us!")
Pretty sure that's more marketing than anything to do with their product strategy. They release the best products they can, but implementing features better than their competitors means it takes them longer, so they talk down any feature they don't offer yet, and then hype it up once they offer it.
In other words, it's not as if an iPhone friendly multitasking setup was available and they just ripped it out so they could have a big reveal two years later. In their eyes at least, the "innovation" is that they did it in an "Apple way".