They're pretty damn good innovators.
I suppose they started the whole home computer boom back in the late eighties early nineties. The iPhone was the first phone to be an all-in-one device, and now the iPad, despite being a scaled up version the iPod Touch, is likely to start some kind of tablet mini-revolution. They're pretty good at making new stuff, even if it's not good.
Then companies like Microsoft, Google, and HTC come along and do what they did but better and affordable. That's all the credit I'll give Apple.