Apple created the modern smartphone; they did definitely not invent all the necessary technologies but they were absolutely the first ones to come up with a package that people actually loved and bought. Before that, such a package did definitely NOT exist. Together with the "Apps" and AppStore, that is a market that Apple created.
And they did the same with the tablet, they created a market that did not exist before - from existing technologies.
I know. That's why I said: the modern smartphone. I have used a couple of those you mentioned and they just weren't the same. I doubt they even remotely pushed the kind of crazy numbers Apple and Androids are seeing each year now.
Yes, but that's also why I said that they didn't "create" the modern smartphone. Everything that they "created" already existed before they came along.
There's no doubt that they packaged things very nicely and have been very successful, but it's not as if they created this market out of thin air. They surely did not invent the general concept that they've been so successful implementing.
The market for smartphones you see now? Teens, kids, moms and everyone else? Yes, they created that. And they created the package, granted out of existing technologies but the package does matter.
And they did the same with the tablet, they created a market that did not exist before - from existing technologies.