Jonathan Ive, Apple Design Chief, Says Company's Goal Not To Make Money

Apple Exec Says 'Goal Isn't To Make Money'… But Isn't It?
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2008 file photo, Jonathan Ive, Apple senior vice president of Industrial Design, at an Apple meeting in Cupertino, Calif. Ive has led Apple's industrial design team, responsible for the look and feel of the hardware, since 1996. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2008 file photo, Jonathan Ive, Apple senior vice president of Industrial Design, at an Apple meeting in Cupertino, Calif. Ive has led Apple's industrial design team, responsible for the look and feel of the hardware, since 1996. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Apple may be worth $539 billion, but design chief Sir Jonathan Ive insists the company isn't in the tech business for the green.

“Our goal isn’t to make money. Our goal absolutely at Apple is not to make money. This may sound a little flippant, but it’s the truth,” the recently knighted Ive stated at the British Embassy's Creative Summit, per The Telegraph. “Our goal and what gets us excited is to try to make great products. We trust that if we are successful, people will like them, and if we are operationally competent we will make revenue, but we are very clear about our goal."

But Ive's statements do seem to contradict what is currently taking place in a California courtroom. This week, following a series of ongoing patent battles in countries around the world, Apple will present to a U.S. jury its case against Samsung smartphones and tablets that the Cupertino-based company claims to be "slavishly copied" from Apple's iPhone and iPad designs. One of Apple's main arguments? The company calculates Samsung cost Apple over $500 million in profits, bringing total damages to $2.525 billion.

It sounds like money may mean a little something to Apple, after all.

Appel's most recent quarterly earnings, released last week, disappointed Wall Street analysts, who had predicted slightly stronger results. Despite increasing profits to $8.8 billion, that quarter was Apple's slowest growth period in the last two years. This might be attributable to customers purchasing cheaper versions of the iPhone and iPad.

Yet, according to PC Magazine, Apple still sold $17 millions iPads, up from 11.8 million the previous quarter. There were also 26 million iPhones and 4 million Macs snatched up by Apple fans.

What do you think about Jony Ive's statement? Do you think Apple prides itself more on great products or great revenue?

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