The only innovation I can really find where they were truly leaders is the concept of the app store - which admittedly has been huge - but outside of that they sell an extremely well executed smart phone and tablet.
Aside from that, Nintendo's strategy is miles away from Apple's.
I am not trying to 'troll' anyone here, but I think if you look at the truly innovative business processes, technologies, and sheer inventions, Nokia as a company has Apple beat hands down over the last few years.
Yes, in some sense, building a better mouse trap is innovation, and no one can deny Apple's success as a company especially over Nokia's, but I would still strongly contend it has more to do with sheer execution and market positioning over sheer innovation.
What parts does one have to look at to see the innovation? I feel like I'm missing something obvious...
And that was just version 1.0 in 2007, which is still better than most Nokia phones today. Then they launched the App Store and the iPad.
I'm sure someone had a touch screen phone, somewhere, before the iPhone. But no one nailed all those little features of user experience. I'm sure the software/hardware for a consistent multitouch screen capable of being manufactured at scale was alone a very big deal.