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OP, the author of the article just born yesterday... lack of historical background... however, I am surprise bloomberg publish it... (I expect more research article from them... at least showcase the progress. Apple Tim Cook did say apple do not want to be the 1st, but want to be the best...).
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Most companies incorporate new features as differentiators that may or may not be useful. After all, if your design, quality, ecosystem, accessory support, app ecosystem, delivery schedule, retail presence, etc. are clearly not as good as Apple then you’ve got to have some feature that the iPhone doesn’t have.
Apple, on the other hand, does not primarily sell iPhones based on their features.