Peter Thiel renews Apple criticism: ‘Nothing new after Steve Jobs’

Billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has renewed his long-standing criticism of Apple, arguing that the company has failed to produce meaningful innovation since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011.

According to a report by Benzinga, Theil made the remarks during a recent interview with author Walter Isaacson on The Builder’s podcast, which was released earlier this week. Theil emphasised that the smartphone was a big invention with little left to do once it was launched. After that, he said, Apple’s work was a matter of scaling the product, building the brand and extending the business over about 15 years.

Peter Theil: Apple did nothing after Steve Jobs

During the interview, Theil said that one of the biggest breakthrough of Apple was iPhone and suggested that the company mainly focused on refining and expanding the product ever since.

“In my telling, it did nothing new after Jobs,” Thiel said, adding that the iPhone was such a significant invention that there was little left to revolutionise afterward. According to Thiel, Apple spent the years following the iPhone’s launch scaling the product, strengthening its brand and expanding its ecosystem rather than creating another transformative technology.

Theil further added that Apple lost its sense of direction after the death of Steve Jobs.

He also said that such as Elon Musk and Steve Jobs are far better for society than former Apple CEO Tim Cook.Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone in 2007, the product was widely credited with resharing the smartphone industry and consumer technology. After almost two decades, Apple recently launched its first foldable smartphone — the iPhone Duo, making one of the company’s significant hardware shifts in years.

Nine years after declaring Apple’s era over

The latest comments made by Theil echo the views he expressed nearly a decade ago. In the year 2017, Theil famously declared that Apple’s era was over, arguing that the company had reached a point where breakthrough innovation was becoming increasingly difficult.Despite the predictions made by Theil, Apple continued to grow into one of the world's most valuable companies, with its shares posting substantial gains over the years, even amid periods of market volatility.While speaking with Isaacson, Thiel argued that Apple lost its sense of direction after Jobs’ passing. He also suggested that leaders such as Elon Musk and Steve Jobs have had a greater positive impact on society than current Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Apple faces growing questions on AI

Thiel's criticism comes at a time when Apple is facing heightened scrutiny over its artificial intelligence strategy. The company has been working to strengthen Siri and expand its AI capabilities amid increasing competition from rivals including OpenAI and Anthropic.Apple has faced criticism over the pace of its AI rollout and challenges in delivering advanced generative AI features, an area where competitors have moved aggressively in recent years.

Focus turns to upcoming results

Investors are now awaiting Apple's upcoming quarterly earnings report, which is expected to provide further insight into the company's hardware performance, AI investments and growth strategy.While Thiel remains sceptical about Apple's post-Jobs innovation record, the company's financial performance and stock market gains since his 2017 comments underscore the ongoing debate over whether transformative innovation or consistent execution is the more important measure of a technology giant's success.