Happy customers. Not such a complex business plan. Hard to achieve.

Apple reached a market value of one trillion dollars this week.

That’s an indescribably large number but to me it’s almost completely meaningless. I don’t have shares, have no independent wealth and like the majority of the global population, I struggle to get by. News that a few more people just became millionaires does nothing to solve my problems, but Apple’s focus on delivering products I can use to try to solve them myself probably will. That’s the secret. It gives us…

What we want

Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a memo to Apple staff after the trillion dollar valuation was hit. He said the company should be proud of the achievement, but said it “was not the most important measure of our success”. “Financial returns are simply the result of Apple’s innovation, putting our products and customers first, and always staying true to our values,” he wrote.

It’s also about giving people what they want.

• 98%: Customer satisfaction with AirPods (2017)
• 92%: Customer satisfaction with iPhone in 2007
• 98%: 2018 customer satisfaction with iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus(97% according to a second survey).
• 92%: Customer satisfaction with iPad in 2010
• 94%: 2018 customer satisfaction with iPad
• 97%: Customer satisfaction with Apple Watch in 2015
• When it comes to iOS, 95 percent of customers run a version that’s no more than two-years old.
• At 93 points, Apple leads in Laptop magazine’s regular 2018 annual survey of U.S. tech support for computer companies.

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• Even Apple’s Beats headphones brand leads the rankings in the BrandKeys 2018 Headphones category
• Apple (83) has the highest customer satisfaction rating across all the companies in the Personal Computers category, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
• It’s also higher in the cellular telephone category and iTunes (77) is just one point short of equal first in the ASCI’s video streaming services category, which is led by Netflix, Sony and Twitch/Amazon with 78 points each. Don’t worry — Apple’s working on that.
• Around 64% of iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches ever sold remain in active use, they just keep working.

It’s customer satisfaction scores like these that Apple’s business is built on. It’s customer satisfaction scores like these that made it rich, and its scores like these that mean customers (and their friends) keep coming back for more.

The company has made billions keeping people happy.