Longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster has obsessed about all things Apple for more than 20 years. When asked for Apple’s defining achievement, he is tempted to talk about the iPhone. In reality, the answer is much deeper than a single product. Apple’s true achievement is the culture Steve Jobs instilled that made the Mac and iPhone possible and has sustained the business long after those launches, Munster writes. As Apple looks toward the decades ahead, investors can rest easy knowing that Jobs’ product discipline remains embedded in the culture, and that culture will be the foundation for future hit products.
Gene Munster via GeneMunster.com:
The clearest evidence of what Jobs and the culture he built brought to Apple is found by looking back at AAPL’s performance during the years he was gone. From 1985 to 1996, AAPL shares were up 30%, while the Nasdaq rose 310%. That underperformance reflected some product quality issues, but more importantly, it reflected a weak product vision that translated into underwhelming revenue growth. During that period, the company grew by an average of 13% a year.
Jobs’ return in late 1996 changed that trajectory. Since then, revenue growth averaged 28% from 2000–2015 and 19% from 2000–2025. Even more staggering, during that period AAPL shares have risen roughly 176,000%, versus approximately 1,700% for the Nasdaq. While the iPhone was the most visible outcome of that era, the core reason it all came together is that Jobs rebuilt Apple around a philosophy, not a product. He believed winning companies shouldn’t ask consumers what they want, but rather build something they couldn’t live without.
What makes that culture lasting is that Jobs knew it was their defining advantage, so he built a system to maintain it. Even after learning in 2003 that he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer, he remained deeply engaged when most CEOs would have stepped down. In 2008, he founded Apple University to institutionalize Apple’s way of thinking, ensuring employees understood the principles behind its best decisions.
MacDailyNews Take: As long as Apple steadfastly preserves the extraordinary culture that Steve Jobs built (the very culture that has defined the company for most of the last 50 years) the company will continue to win over consumers decade after decade. Continuing to adhere to its unique Jobsian culture, Apple’s future isn’t just bright; it’s inevitable.
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