Tim Cook on Apple Deciding to Manufacture Components: ‘We Ask Ourselves If We Can Do Something Better’

During today’s earnings call for the third fiscal quarter of 2021 (second calendar quarter), Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked how Apple decides what components to purchase and what components to develop, and Cook said that Apple asks if it can be done better.

We ask ourselves if we can do something better. If we can deliver a better product. If we can buy something in the market and it’s great and it’s as good as what we can do, we’re going to buy it. We’ll only enter where we have an ability to do something better and therefore make a better product for the user.

Cook went on to explain that the M1 chip is a great example of that. “We have the ability within our silicon team to make a product that’s appreciably better than what we could buy,” he said.

Response to the ‌M1‌ chip has been “unbelievable,” and has been powering Mac and iPad sales that are constrained. “That’s how we look at that and whether we should enter a market or not,” said Cook.

The ‌M1‌ chip has allowed Apple to cut ties with Intel, and Apple is no longer reliant on Intel technology or Intel release timelines. In the future, Apple is also planning to come out with its own modem chips, reducing its reliance on Qualcomm.