Apple vs. Meta: Zuckerberg Goes at Tim Cook!

Summary

Market Mondays: Apple vs. Meta – Zuckerberg Goes at Tim Cook!

Episode Release Date: January 15, 2025
Host/Author: EYL Network

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In this riveting episode of Market Mondays, the EYL Network delves deep into the escalating tensions between tech giants Apple and Meta. Host Ian Dunlap and a panel of industry commentators dissect Mark Zuckerberg's recent outspoken remarks aimed at Apple CEO Tim Cook, exploring the broader implications for both companies' stock performances and future trajectories.

Zuckerberg's Critique of Apple's Innovation

The episode kicks off with Commentator 1 addressing a heated exchange where former President Donald Trump allegedly urged Mark Zuckerberg to appear on Joe Rogan's podcast to "tear down Apple." This move has sparked significant debate within the tech community. At [01:30], Commentator 1 remarks:

"What you think of Trump telling Mark Zuckerberg to go on Rogan and tear down Apple. And Apple allegedly told allegedly."

Commentator 2 adds context, highlighting Zuckerberg's criticism of Apple's stagnation in innovation:

"In that clip, you see that Mark Zuckerberg has some choice words for Apple's innovation or lack thereof... Apple stock has outperformed."

Assessing Apple's Innovation and Market Position

The discussion pivots to a critical analysis of Apple's current innovation landscape. Commentator 3 offers a sobering perspective on Apple's product evolution:

"They haven't really invented anything great in a while. It's like Steve Jobs invented the iPhone and now they're just kind of sitting on it 20 years later... people are just taking longer to upgrade than they would before."

He further critiques Apple's business model, particularly the 30% commission on developers and the restrictive ecosystem that hampers third-party innovations:

"Apple has a specific protocol that they've built into the iPhone... Apple has been a thoroughhampering to the ability for anyone else to build something that can connect to the iPhone in the same way."

Stock Performance: Apple vs. Meta

Despite the criticisms, Apple's stock has remained robust, outperforming many in the market. Commentator 2 observes:

"Apple stock has outperformed... Meta stock has done well as well."

However, Commentator 4 counters by emphasizing underlying vulnerabilities:

"Both are going to be on fire. Like the reason why he started to make his rounds after they killed him on Capitol Hill... I said, damn, did Austin Zuckerberg attacks?"

Future Outlook and Strategic Implications

The panel delves into the strategic futures of both Apple and Meta. Commentator 1 predicts a potential leadership shake-up at Apple should innovation falter:

"Tim Cook will need to step down. Okay, I'm gonna say it right now."

He underscores the importance of reinvigorating Apple's product lines to maintain market dominance:

"If you look at any Android phone the last eight years... innovation is needed."

Commentator 4 draws attention to Apple's foray into artificial intelligence with "Apple intelligence," expressing skepticism about its successful integration:

"The AI, right, the Apple intelligence. If they don't get this right, how far back are we set?"

Conversely, Meta's diversification into hardware with products like Oculus and Vision Pro is examined, with concerns about their competitive edge and product viability:

"The Oculus has won that competition... the Vision Pro so badly that this... it's a dead product."

Conclusion: Navigating the Tech Landscape

As the episode wraps up, the commentators weigh the long-term prospects for both Apple and Meta. While Apple continues to leverage its entrenched ecosystem, questions remain about its capacity for genuine innovation and adaptation in a rapidly evolving tech environment. Meta, under Zuckerberg's leadership, shows resilience but faces its own set of challenges in maintaining product relevance and market share.

Commentator 1 encapsulates the episode's sentiment:

"Innovation won't last forever... They are lacking innovation... they've missed out on the crypto waves hologram."

Ultimately, the episode underscores the intricate dance between leadership, innovation, and market dynamics that will shape the futures of these tech behemoths. Listeners are left contemplating whether Apple can reignite its innovative spark and how Meta will navigate the competitive pressures intensified by Zuckerberg's bold critiques.

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Notable Quotes:

• "[01:30] Commentator 1: 'What you think of Trump telling Mark Zuckerberg to go on Rogan and tear down Apple.'"

• "[01:38] Commentator 3: 'They haven't really invented anything great in a while...'"

• "[03:04] Commentator 2: 'Meta stock has done well as well.'"

• "[07:58] Commentator 4: 'And we've been saying this for about two years now about the declining iPhone sales...'"

This comprehensive analysis provides listeners with a nuanced understanding of the current tensions between Apple and Meta, offering valuable insights into the potential future movements within the tech stock market.

Transcript

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[Commentator 1]

What you think of Trump telling Mark Zuckerberg to go on Rogan and tear down Apple. And Apple allegedly told allegedly.

[Commentator 2]

Let's show this clip. Let's show the clip if we can.

[Commentator 3]

You know, they haven't really invented anything great in a while. It's like Steve Jobs invented the iPhone and now they're just kind of sitting on it 20 years later and they actually, I think year over year, I'm not even sure they're selling more iPhones at this point. I think like the sales might actually be declining. And part of it is that each generation it doesn't actually get that much better. So people are just taking longer to upgrade than they would before. So then number of sales, I think, has generally been flat to declining. So how are they making more money as a company? Well, they do it by basically, like, squeezing people and like you're saying, like, having this 30% tax on developers by getting you to buy more peripherals and things that plug into it. You know, they build stuff like AirPods, which are cool, but they've just thoroughly hamstrung the ability for anyone else to build something that can connect to the iPhone in the same way. So, I mean, there are a lot of other companies in the world that would be able to build, like, a very good earbud, but it just. Apple has a specific protocol that they've built into the iPhone.

[Commentator 2]

Okay, so in that clip, you see that Mark Zuckerberg has some choice words for Apple's innovation or lack thereof. So, I mean, stuff that, you know is not new about this a variety of different times over the last couple of years, but Apple stock has outperformed.

[Commentator 4]

A lot of stocks on the inverse, for sure.

[Commentator 2]

Meta stock has. Has done well as well. So, A, what do you think of his comments? And B, what does this. What does this mean for the outlook of Apple's stock this year and the outlook of Meta stock this year? Because I see Zuckerberg following Elon's path, where he's getting out there a lot.

[Commentator 1]

More, and Celebrity CEO index, he needed it.

[Commentator 2]

Celebrity CEO?

[Commentator 4]

Yeah, he. Yeah, we we talked about it. In terms of him getting out there more, being a likable figure. This is. This is interesting, but I. I think what he's saying, there's merit to it, which makes it a little bit different. Right. When he's talking about the lack of innovation, when he's talking about the 30 charge that they're putting on it, the fact that they're trying to charge you more for the same products that you used to have by just changing the adapters. We know all those things to be true. From a standpoint of innovation, though, is it a competitor? I know they. They had the Oculus and he had the. The Vision Pro, and so there's competitive competition there, and the Oculus has won that competition. They've downgraded the. The. The Vision Pro so, so badly that this. I don't even think they're trying to sell it anymore. But to challenge a company that has held stronghold in a brand that is. I mean, it has an ironclad, and it has been for 20 years. I'm interested to See what the long term outlook for him on this. Right. Because that's not his strategy. That's never been his strategy to go at CEOs. It's always been to, this is why we're better. This is why we're better. Not directly talk to CEOs and to the lack of innovation. So I mean, I don't know what the long term play is from. From Zuckerberg standpoint. What's your thoughts?

[Commentator 1]

I've been telling everybody for the last three or four years that it's been a little war. Like I saw Cam and Jim get into it and I hope y'all patch that up. My favorite tea to watch though is white tech war. CEO T&Beef, my favorite category. Right. They don't like each other and they haven't for a long time. Zuckerberg has been swayed as a African American, not higher, but person who has been to the offices a few times. This war has been ongoing. And although it hasn't been Zuckerberg's strategy to publicly go as CEOs behind the scenes, he has done this a lot. And this is re the reason why Cook doesn't like him. And then you have a big competitor that I talked about last week, Palmer Lucky where Oculus came from, there's a 20v one going on with Zuck and he had to run to Trump and Elon for allies. But to this point about Apple, as soon as this clip went out, I said, damn, did Austin Zuckerberg attacks? Because this sound like a lot of things I have been saying the last three or four years. And for those of you like, well, Apple moat and ecosystem, I had an Apple two at my grandma's house on Guthrie street in East Chicago, Indiana. I got the first iPhone in 2007. Trust me, I've been in this ecosystem a lot longer than most people have. They are lacking innovation. And if this phone isn't as valuable as it used to be, it's going to affect the company. It just hasn't happened yet. So do I think they need to innovate? If you read Walter Isaacson's book about Jobs, one of the things that Job said, he is a better operator than I, a better potential CEO than I. But he's not a product guy. They need a product guy in that space to help innovate with it. He's operated the company at the highest level and took it to heights the Jobs could not get it to and took away the volatility the innovation has been lacking. If you look at any Android phone The last eight years. Shout to my guy, Drew. Like the features we're just not getting. They had them features five years ago. So innovation is needed. But will both stocks do well? Both are going to be on fire. Like the reason why he started to make his rounds after they killed him on Capitol Hill. The rebrand has been amazing. There's an index and a higher return upon like celebrity CEOs. Oh, for the record, I never want y'all to say nothing to Rashad about drip. When Jensen had on a $62,000 alligator jacket, it was odd too.

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See?

[Commentator 1]

Yeah. I don't want to hear nothing about no pajamas and no buffs. The boy had on a seventy thousand dollar jacket with a bad presentation.

[Commentator 4]

It was bad. Hey, I'm glad you said that. It took a water break, all that.

[Commentator 1]

Come on.

[Commentator 4]

Yeah.

[Commentator 1]

So will metal stock go up? Yes. Metal will do incredibly well. Will Apple do well? Yes. And for every entrepreneur and for every company that I invest in, I always say what's the thing that can kill this company? So that's not being better could do it.

[Commentator 4]

That's. And we've been saying this for about two years now about the declining iPhone sales and he alluded to it. I mean it's interesting. Right. You're listening to Zuckerberg who obviously is a leader in the tech space, talking about the things that we've said here on market Mondays about the lack of innovation, the decline of the iPhone sales. I think when I think Apple and Meta, I think hardware, I think software. Right. From a hardware standpoint, Meta is trying to Oculus is that hardware product obviously from. So they have Facebook, they have WhatsApp, they have. Have Instagram, they have that infrastructure.

[Commentator 1]

No innovation though, Right, exactly right.

[Commentator 4]

But they have the software whereas Apple. It is the hardware that is the selling point.

[Commentator 1]

The iOS. I the one thing I will say, I don't like what they did to the photo album because whatever trash. But the Iowa is hardware and software. They were the first company.

[Commentator 4]

Yeah. I'm going in. I'm going in. So like the. If you look at now the profit margins, right, like yes, the phone makes up 50 of revenue but is the. The new turn and it hasn't rolled out properly. But the AI, right, the Apple intelligence. If they don't get this right, how far back are we set? Because we're going on a year from the Vision Pro and that that wasn't the product. Right.

[Commentator 1]

A dud. And I said as soon as they launched it. Wrong.

[Commentator 4]

The actual product is good. The innovation for it. They haven't done anything for it. They haven't done anything for it.

[Commentator 1]

No, I have it.

[Commentator 4]

They haven't done anything. Yeah, there's nothing for it. So it's like now it's, it's a dead product. Is the artificial intelligence or the Apple intelligence? The software piece that now says, all right, we don't need to sell more phones. If we can get this right, this Apple intelligence, we'll put it inside of our products. We'll put it inside the hardware. And now more people want it. I feel like that's what they're banking on. It just hasn't been rolled out correctly. And if it doesn't pan out, then what's next?

[Commentator 1]

Tim Cook will need to step down. Okay, I'm gonna say it right now.

[Commentator 2]

The stock is at all time highs.

[Commentator 1]

It won't stay there. I've been invested in this company since 2010. I've had an Apple 2 that was in. That was when Method man to Cal was out.

[Commentator 4]

What color was it?

[Commentator 1]

Gray. Gray. You gotta put in a big ass floppy disc in the middle. And I get it, Trust me, I get it. It sounds crazy, but if it wasn't for that mode and ecosystem, the stock would probably be down 30%. Innovation won't last forever. And I listen, I, I predicted four years ago by 2034 Tim Cook will be out of there. So I think he would be better served as chairman. The tough part is that's a hard seat to fill and not many people at HQ want to even ruffles Tim's feathers. Steve gets a lot of and some of it deserved lore about being a harsh leader. But man, Tim cracks that whip up there HQ and that little spaceship. Yeah, I think they need a product guy or gal or however they identify to come lead the charge and make this better for everyone. Who's saying there's nothing else you can do with a phone? That's not true. Go look at Huawei. A couple of phones in China that look amazing.

[Commentator 4]

So there's got to be a harsh emphasis on the 16 and 17 if we're seeing sales decline. And if this is the thing that's supposed to have people, it's like when your product is too good, people don't get more of the product. They'll just say, I'll keep this one up until like the 13. You saw that life cycle. Oh, it's a new phone. We got to get a new phone. We got to get to get it.

[Commentator 1]

Around the 11. Who are like, I'm, I, I don't, I'm Gonna wait two life cycles to get a phone.

[Commentator 2]

I think the part that he made his fault. They still have market dominance in America.

[Advertiser]

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[Commentator 1]

I'm not saying that the need for.

[Commentator 2]

Buying a new phone is. Is never, that's never gonna. It's never gonna be like how it was before. It's never gonna be like yo, I gotta get. Because we. So we also are used to it. Familiar, familiar larity leads to complacency. So yeah, people are just comfortable like this didn't camera gonna make that big of a difference in my life because it's like you gotta transfer all your information. And just the hassle of going through that and getting a new lease for the phone. It's not even. It's like I could just manage with the phone. So unless they go and continue to send bugs. They got sued for that. So you can't make somebody buy a new phone. But they, they do still have market dominance. That that's helpful.

[Commentator 1]

And I'm not.

[Commentator 2]

Yeah, they went in. They're winning one side of the war but they just. They're not going to be able to. To have people continue to buy new phones for no reason.

[Commentator 4]

And that's gonna hurt the bottom line for sure.

[Commentator 1]

And if they need more people who are going to. I think the iOS and the software is amazing. The hardware is the part where it's not much innovation. Like you said, like I don't need a upgrade of 2 megapixels and they've done great there. Just the, the branding of the phone has not been as good as it used to be. And whenever a company's at the top like and not maybe as entrepreneurs you feel like this. Whenever I do something it's like groundbreaking. I'm like, what's next? They've gotten comfortable for five years and making marginal even Apple intelligence thing they have not. They've missed out.

[Commentator 4]

Yeah.

[Commentator 1]

They missed out on the crypto waves hologram.

[Commentator 2]

But that it got me something so completely different with facetime is actual hologram like that you. Okay, now I need to get. Now I need to.

[Commentator 1]

It has to be that obsession.

[Commentator 4]

We're just speaking about the phone. Right. Because that. That's 50 of revenue. But yeah, I mean are you buying a new iPad? The iPad that I have works fine. Are you buying a new.

[Commentator 1]

Yeah, I got my iPad for three years ago.

[Commentator 4]

Are we buying new air earbuds? Yo, the ones I got the noise cancellation. How much more noise can I cancel? I'm good.

[Commentator 1]

Well listen, if he make a hologram and I can see my baby pop out in 3D. Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you sold that car yet?

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