The biggest tech giants of the world, Meta and Apple have been rivalling in the tech world for quite a while now. However, recently, Mark Zuckerberg went out to reveal that the fight is only going to get deeper and more intense over the next decade.
In an episode of the "Acquired" podcast, Zuckerberg noted the basic differences in culture and approaches between the two companies. He then further emphasized that Apple would continue to be the biggest competitor for Meta in the next decade.
Talking on his podcast, Zuckerberg compared Meta's approach with that of Apple. "I think in a lot of ways we're like the opposite of Apple," he said.
He praised Apple's approach of being thoroughly controlled and sleek as launching a new product, remarking that it captures the tone and voice of an Apple company. Meta, on the other hand, seeks speed of iteration and launches, even if that means that things are going to be imperfect at first.
Zuckerberg had much more to add to Meta's internal culture, which was described by him as shipping products quickly. He noted that for Meta, gathering feedback is the most important thing, rather than trying to get perfect from the very beginning.
"There are a lot of conversations that we have internally where you're almost at the line of being embarrassed at what you put out," he explained. This willingness to ship and learn is what forms the crux of Meta's innovation strategy.
Zuckerberg also attacked Apple's "walled garden" approach, in which Apple tightly controls both its hardware and its software ecosystem. In contrast, Meta is a strong proponent of open platforms, which Zuckerberg claimed is a necessary condition for the future development of technological capability. He argued that the open versus closed platform debate is an important element of their ideological competition.
Meta also competes with Apple in hardware. Apple has only now, launched the Vision Pro headset as a full replacement for competitors like Meta's Quest headset. While Meta is searching for cheaper options for VR, Apple is heavily invested in high-end AR/VR products.
The competition is not only in hardware but spread over numerous technology products. Meta continues to lead in advertising and invests heavily in AI as well as the metaverse. Apple, on the other hand, is growing its advertising business and should have a native generative AI product called Apple Intelligence ready by the time its AR/VR advancements roll out.
He is banking on the future of open platforms and their potential to shape things going forward in the technology industry. For him, it happens to be a long-term strategic advantage given that open-accessible technologies happen to prevail over closed systems.
Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed that the companies aren't in the same business while Zuckerberg is preparing for a war that promises to be long and multifaceted. However, Apple Intelligence and iOS 18.1 prove otherwise than the company CEO’s sentiments. With Apple's recent forays into the metaverse and AI, things are surely going to become pretty challenging for these two tech giants.