Billionaire investor Peter Thiel criticized Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), saying the iPhone maker has done nothing new since Steve Jobs died in 2011, though he still called the company a "pure, well-run value stock."
Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL), made the remarks in a September interview with author Walter Isaacson on the The Builder’s podcast, released earlier this week.
"In my telling, it did nothing new after Jobs," Thiel said.
Thiel Says iPhone Was a One-Time Breakthrough for Apple
Thiel said the smartphone was a giant invention with little left to do afterward. "Then it was just scaling and branding and building it out over 15 years or whatever," he said
Jobs introduced the first iPhone in 2007. Apple has since unveiled its first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Duo, nearly 20 years after the original iPhone debuted.
Apple Stock Has Climbed Despite Thiel’s Skepticism
Thiel has made similar comments in the past. In 2017, he said that Apple’s era was over. Apple’s stock has risen substantially since then, despite periodic pullbacks.
During the podcast, he stated Apple lost its sense of direction after Jobs died. He also said that Elon Musk or Steve Jobs is "way better for society than Tim Cook."
Apple has also faced criticism over its AI efforts, particularly Siri, as it works to narrow the gap with rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
The iPhone maker is set to report its fourth-quarter results on Nov. 2.
Trading Metrics
Apple has a market capitalization of about $5.07 trillion. Over the past 52 weeks, its stock has traded as high as $351.73 and as low as $243.42.
The large-cap tech stock has gained 29.36% over the past 12 months.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.