Scott Galloway
Professor of marketing at NYU Stern and author of bestselling books including The Four and The Algebra of Wealth.
“Everybody thinks that innovation is being first. It's not. The innovator almost always destroys shareholder value. Mud on your face, arrow on your back. It's the second mouse, and Apple is the ultimate second mouse. Apple wins by showing up late. It didn't invent the MP3, the smartphone, smartwatch, or wireless earbuds. It showed up three to five years late and took the entire profit pool.”
Prof G Markets · Money & Markets · October 2026
Galloway's prediction segment: he expects Apple's move into the home, a speaker plus smart home control panel, to work. His argument is that Amazon and Google have spent a decade beta testing smart displays on Apple's behalf.
Transcript
Well, my prediction is that Apple's move into the home hits well. The hub is a speaker plus smart home control panel centered on Siri. I would actually retire the Siri brand. I think it's been a total fucking disaster. You know, disaster. And I'd call it something. I'd just. Call it all, you know, dots or call it Gloria. Jay!
Jay!
Modern family reference there. I'm going to roll today. I didn't even take edibles last night. Anyway, Apple identifies or marks the strategy that kids don't understand. Everybody thinks that innovation is being first. It's not. The innovator almost always destroys shareholder value. Mud on your face, arrow on your back. It's the second mouse, and Apple is the ultimate second mouse. Apple wins by showing up late. It didn't invent the MP3, the smartphone, smartwatch, or wireless earbuds. It showed up three to five years late and took the entire profit pool. When an Apple product shows up, it makes every other product look like a prototype. AirPods became a business the size of a Fortune 500 company. Smart displays have had a decade of Amazon and Google beta testing on Apple's behalf. I think Apple comes in. In addition, let me ask you this question. This has always struck me. I used to advise Bose. Bose was one of my clients. How many great brands are in the home? The home is one of the biggest sectors in America. We spend so much money on our homes. Name great brands in the home.
It's basically like banging all of Sen, Bose. Sonos. I mean, these are not. I mean, they're not great brands. They're not good. Well, they're not great businesses.
You know what? The greatest example of the white space that is building a great brand or bringing a great brand into the home? You can be selling a $20 million home and they'll put on the tear sheet Sub-Zero refrigerator. Sub-Zero. Wait, a 5,000-piece appliance is what you're talking about? There just aren't very many brands in the home. And I think you put, I think Apple, and not only that, a lot of people have struggled or have concerns about having Alexa or Meta in their home, right? Because of privacy concerns. Apple is the most trusted or the least distrusted.
That's true.
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