--- title: Apple Watch: Designer: Steve Jobs Would Have Wanted Stainless Steel description: The company is moving into the fashion-minded luxury market to protect its profits. canonical: https://time.com/3318696/early-apple-designer-market/ author: Hartmut Esslinger article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-10T17:28:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:29.750Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Early Apple Designer: Apple Is Now a Marketing-Driven Company og:description: The company is moving into the fashion-minded luxury market to protect its profits. og:url: https://time.com/3318696/early-apple-designer-market/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3065f26de8804dcd/6986a2a6e8524b42f16049d4/455057718.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Apple Unveils iPhone 6 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Early Apple Designer: Apple Is Now a Marketing-Driven Company twitter:description: The company is moving into the fashion-minded luxury market to protect its profits. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3065f26de8804dcd/6986a2a6e8524b42f16049d4/455057718.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Early Apple Designer: Apple Is Now a Marketing-Driven Company > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Hartmut Esslinger](https://time.com/author/hartmut-esslinger/) ## Hartmut Esslinger Sep 10, 2014 5:28 PM UTC  Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks about the new Apple Watch during an Apple special event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks about the new Apple Watch during an Apple special event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on September 9, 2014 in Cupertino, California. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Hartmut Esslinger](https://time.com/author/hartmut-esslinger/) ## Hartmut Esslinger Sep 10, 2014 5:28 PM UTC As expected, Apple’s upgraded iPhones – finally rounded again for nice touch – and the Apple Watch are meticulously designed and continue Apple’s design strategy of elegant simplicity and fine materials. The software user interface of both product lines provides logical interaction and is visually appealing. And as expected, Apple makes things and solutions like wellness monitoring or wireless payment better, even when invented by others. However, the absence of fundamental innovation also shows that Apple is becoming a marketing-driven company, which now has to follow market pressures. As even the most advanced technology in the wireless space Steve Jobs pioneered is becoming a commodity within the shortest period of time, the company is moving into the fashion-minded luxury market to protect its profits. The money and the talent for this strategic shift is there, however Steve Jobs probably would have preferred the Apple Watch in stainless steel — the authentic material real watches are made of. _Hartmut Esslinger is the founder of Frog design. 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