There’s been a lot of chatter lately speculating the bloom is off the rose at Apple, and  Samsung is the next big thing.

Please.

Samsung is a lot of things – a copy cat, a me too company, a follow the leader organization.  But it is not innovative.  That, despite being among the top 20 R&D spenders on the planet for the past decade.  And guess who is not among the top 20 spenders?  You got it… Apple.

However, in fairness, Apple is identified as the most innovative company (#1) on the planet in a survey conducted by Booz & Company.  Apple is the king of innovation.  Everything it does – everything it has done for the past four decades – is innovative.  New, different, unique, clever, imaginative, ingenious, original.

And Samsung (aka, Same-sung) is what is known in the industry as a “fast follower”.  It is exactly what you think it is.  And by the way, that’s fine by me.  Copy away.  But please don’t pretend that because you spent $9 billion on R&D last year, you must therefore be recognized as innovative.  Unless, of course, you think clinking two phones together to share song playlists is clever.  But then please remember playlists didn’t exist until Apple created them.

Apple – not just Steve Jobs – has proven itself to be the most consistent and successful “innovation” company of the past two centuries.  Until someone else proves they can wear the crown better, I prefer to keep them on a pedestal.