| Absolutely - Apple is vertically integrated as much as they need to be. They don't need to own Foxconn or Samsung. It doesn't give them any advantage, and threatening to drop a supplier gives them leverage. They do engineer capacity shortages to slow down their competitors. From 2011 [1], to 2014 [2], to 2017 [3]. I put "innovator" in quotes for exactly the same reason. Apple "innovates" as much as they need to, such as branding it #courage to omit the headphone jack. If I "dinged" them, I don't see it. I predicted their future strategy, with the caveat that it might take them years to begin executing on it. Apple's earnings calls are the most obvious signal that their "core business" is what all the chatter is about. Apple knows they can't ride iPhone and iPhone alone forever. [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-11-03/apples-su... [2] https://techcrunch.com/2014/09/05/apple-dominating-shipping-... [3] https://9to5mac.com/2017/05/30/nintendo-switch-components-ap... |