I submit you really don't have a clue what you are talking about. . . You are talking through your hat, repeating a myth from others who don't know what they are talking about. You don't have to be first to be best. You don't have to be first to innovate. . . but you fail to recognize innovation that IS first. Innovation that completely disrupts markets and industries. Yes there were what were called "smartphones" before the iPhone. . . but they were not "smart" and were at best what today would be termed a feature phone. Even the best of them could not display a full Internet experience like a desktop computer could. The iPhone changed that by putting a full computer in your hand with a screen capable of handling desktop resolutions, and attached a phone to it. To do it, Apple invented the multi-touch video screen. They hold the patents on that. There are over two hundred patents on the 2007 iPhone alone.
There were a few MP3 players before the iPod. . . but none that were as easy to use to select music to play, and because of that ease of use, the engineering and user interface, it quickly because the most popular music player in the world. . . and the others faded. Microsoft thought that they could capture a large segment of the market by copying the hardware with the Zune. It failed utterly.
There were tablet computers before the iPad, but Apple innovated the tablet with one that actually worked. None before did so that people would want to use it. Sales of previous tablet models totaled under 300,000 units combined. . . because they were clunky and tried to fit a desktop OS into a form factor that was unsuited for it.
You say that Apple did not invent the PC. They made the first successful PC they public embraced: The Apple II. Before that were computers that were not user friendly. . . Apple innovated to make the computer easily user friendly. . . and that's what sold it.
The Macintosh was truly revolutionary. . . and innovative. I am going to bet you are going to claim that Xerox created the GUI, but it isn't true. Apple created most of the GUI, things like drag and drop, nested drop down menuing, Draggable windows, live icons, and a host of other things. There is very little similarities between Apple's GUI and Xerox's Smalltalk. Xerox's Star sold for $20,000 per workstation and a small office installation, including server and two workstations would set a business back $75,000 in 1983. That's $176,000 in 2015 dollars. Apple's 32 bit Macintosh was $2495, or $5600 in 2015 dollars. . . while a Microsoft 16 bit DOS machines was $2995 with monitor, or $6750 in 2015 dollars. It would be years before Microsoft adopted a GUI.
Others mimic Apple. That's the way it is. Not Apple copying others.
Cell phone industry samples before the iPhone introduction
Google's pre-iPhone Android phone design (L) and Google's Post iPhone design (R)
All other Android smartphones after the introduction of the iPhone
Your complaint about Apple copying the watch? About two years ago an Apple engineer in an unsanctioned interview was asked what Apple was working on. . . and he described a watch that would interface with the iPhone and outlined some of the functions it could have. Just a week later, Samsung announced they were going to release a line of wearable products. This was the origin of Samsung's Gear line. Copying, again, what Apple was doing.
