Not to discount the idea that tech companies should be run by innovators, but Apple wouldn't be one of the biggest companies in the world if not for its ingenious vertical integration, which ensures that competitors are always a year or more behind. A few famous examples include the way they temporarily monopolized the supply of a crucial type of flash memory for iPods, and still control the entire supply of certain touchscreen sizes for tablets. They provide the up-front capital to build factories in China to produce these new technologies in exchange for exclusivity. And after the exclusive period is over, Apple pays a discounted price, which means that their competitors actually subsidize Apple's products. There are plenty of other examples of operational genius within Apple along the same lines. Without those genius business maneuvers, they would probably be a successful company, but certainly not the biggest company in the US. The key thing is that this innovation in business ops is in the service of grand technological vision. Ops without vision dooms a company in the long term.