Mark Zuckerberg vs. Apple: They haven’t invented anything great for a long time

Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the podcast Joe Rogan earlier this week and wanted to say a lot about Apple. In particular, the head of Meta focused on the innovative focus of the company and the cumbersome ecosystem that is woven around it.

“They haven’t invented anything serious for a long time. It’s as if Steve Jobs invented the iPhone, and now you’re sitting on it 20 years later,” Zuckerberg told Rogan.

Here’s the interesting part. Meta, which until recently called itself Facebook, has tried to gain a foothold in the phone market. And we’re not just talking about social media apps, but real hardware as well.

In 2011, the company partnered with HTC and released two phones. The ChaCha was a QWERTY phone with a dedicated Facebook button on the button. The idea was to offer one-touch access to the Facebook social universe.

Then there was the HTC Salsa, which retained the “f” button but opted for the regular full-screen format. Neither phone had a successor. Poor build quality, boring internal hardware, and poor camera performance are some of the issues that users have encountered.

Two years later, Zuckerberg came knocking on HTC’s door again and created a personalized experience for Android called Facebook Home. The software has even received praise for its smart design and clean appearance on the HTC First smartphone.

Unfortunately, smartphone enthusiasts haven’t bought much credence to the idea that the phone is deeply tied to the fabric of social networks. Keep in mind this was long before Facebook This will be considered a privacy bomb.

Reasons for failure aside, Facebook simply wasn’t seen as charming or competent enough to beat the rising iPhone tide or even gain a foothold in the Android market.

Okay, maybe Zuckerberg No You love these failures. It sounds like you’re really worried about Apple losing its innovation mojo. And, in his opinion, this also affects sales figures.

“I’m not even sure they sell more iPhones now,” he told Rogan. “I think part of it is that each generation doesn’t get much better, so people are taking longer to upgrade than before.”

The meta boss isn’t quite right here. In fact, Apple has lost its competitive edge over Chinese brands when it comes to smartphone innovation. But that hasn’t stopped the company from selling more phones.

Or even tablets, watches or computers. Zuckerberg also can’t claim that Facebook has succeeded in these categories. Meta’s best win in the XR hardware segment only materialized after it acquired Oculus for a couple of billion dollars.

Meta scrapped its ambitious smartwatch project in 2022, according to Bloomberg. That same year, Reuters reported that the short-lived Portal line of smart displays had also been shelved.

During the nearly three-hour interview with Rogan, Zuckerberg also addressed the limitations of Apple’s platform, using AirPods as an example.

“They completely limited anyone’s ability to create something that could connect to an iPhone in the same way,” he said.

Zuckerberg also addressed the issue of Apple’s App Store commission structure, which has drawn its fair share of criticism and antitrust concerns.

“So how do you make more money as a company? Well, they’re doing it by essentially pushing people out,” referring to the 30% fee Apple charges on apps and in-app purchases distributed through the App Store.

Apple has eased some restrictions, including allowing third-party payment channels, following multiple investigations and landmark reforms to the European Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The interview is worth watching, especially given the dramatic changes at Meta in recent days. The company has stopped its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Meta has also discontinued its independent fact-checking system for Facebook and Instagram, except for some questionable moderation changes that have raised serious concerns.