The 'extreme secrecy' would be an advantage if they actually managed to surprise their customers. The reality is, over the last couple of years they haven't really created something groundbreaking. Why would you want your own employees to not know that the next big thing they're working on is a minor product update. Also, despite the extreme secrecy, every product announced since the iPhone 5s has been leaked in advance. Factory photos, hands-on reviews of cases, photos of chips, etc. In other words, their employees suffer from the secrecy, but the outside world (who they want to surprise) aren't that excited about their launches and already know in advance what's coming up. So... what's the point really.