Ask HN: How does Apple know what to build next?

When you get to a certain size, there is no shortage of ideas flowing in your direction - everything from minuscule and niche optimizations to big, audacious concepts. The challenge for the product folks at Apple is identifying market successes in the making and ruthless prioritization within that subset.

I don't think a company follows ONE process to decide what to build.

Sometimes it's reactionary. If Google builds a truly world class camera that is so cutting edge that it makes iPhone camera look like a joke, then AAPL will be forced to build a similar one to keep it's market share.

Otherwise, I would say Steve Jobs decided what to build next.

I have absolutely no affiliation with $AAPL but I think they look at what other companies aren’t investing a lot of resources into, while also prioritizing projects based on new global market entrants, like SDV (self-driving vehicles) or AR apparatus, as 2 concrete examples.