There are more than two mutually exclusive options for how a company should prioritize its resources.
So, a business is there to solve a problem for it's customers while making money for shareholders. All ends of that equation derive the desired benefits. A company MUST focus on shareholder value. And the way to do that is to solve real problems and do so as well as possible and as efficiently as possible.
These things are interrelated. Based on the down-votes it is obvious some have missed the point of my prior comment's hypothetical about the three friends funding a business.
These three shareholders are jumping on the deal because they want to make money. Even our beloved YC jumps on deals to make money. That's what business is about. It isn't a bad word. And, yes, there's nothing wrong with shareholder value being a priority because the ONLY real and sustainable way to increase shareholder value is to ALSO increase CUSTOMER VALUE. One feeds the other.
Have a crappy product and there is no long terms sustainable way to increase shareholder value. Have an excellent product that solves a real problem as well as excellent customer support, marketing, pricing, etc. and shareholder value WILL increase.
You actually WANT a company you invest in to maximize shareholder value.
But in practice, "maximize shareholder value" means, whatever metrics are presented as part of quarterly or annual reports must always be larger than the metrics presented as part of the previous quarterly or annual report. That's where it turns into an antipattern, where it gets reduced to "the metrics from this report must have larger numbers than the metrics from the last report". That sort of reductivism is what I was referring to.
There reason, I propose, is the deviant behavior you describe isn't sustainable. If you do not produce real value for customers in the long run you are not going to produce value for shareholders. You can "cook the books" for a little while. Maybe. But not in the long term.
The title of the this thread names Apple and Google. Both of those companies have produced a huge amount of value for users and customers as well as shareholders.
Maybe I'm being repetitive. If someone invests their money in my business I am going to make it an absolute priority to do well by them. And the only way to do this is to do well by customers. One forces the other. And, BTW, I don't think this is a conscious decision. In other words, I don't think anyone says "Dammit, we need to make shareholder returns a priority...let's focus on customer value". A good company is aware of shareholder value being important yet their focus and driving force is and should be a passion to deliver best in class products and services (understanding that the one will take care of the other).
Are there companies out there who behave badly? Of course. Thankfully they are the exception rather than the rule.