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Apple CEO Cook: If we don't innovate, we'll end up like Nokia

The Apple CEO says that while Nokia was once a dominant force in mobile, it's now fallen far behind because it failed to innovate.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
Apple CEO Tim Cook James Martin/CNET

Innovation stands at the center of Apple's plans for the future, CEO Tim Cook tells Bloomberg.

In an interview published Thursday, Cook said Nokia's fall from grace as a dominant force in mobile to an also-ran is a warning to every company competing in the industry.

"I think [Nokia] is a reminder to everyone in business that you have to keep innovating and that to not innovate is to die," Cook told Bloomberg.

Deciding what is true innovation and what is a bore, however, may be a bit more difficult for Apple than in the past. After announcing new iPhones last week, Apple's shares fell on Wall Street, indicating that investors weren't particularly excited about what they saw. Cook told Bloomberg that he wasn't pleased with Wall Street's reaction to the iPhones, adding that it makes him question what's next.

"You have to bring yourself back to, 'Are you doing the right things?'" Cook told Bloomberg. "And so that's what I focus on, instead of letting somebody else or a thing like the market define how I should feel."