> What Apple may be guilty of here is focusing on short term growth at the expense of the long term.

Wall St growthbros do not draw these sorts of distinctions. If the focus on short-term growth ends up tanking a company, there will simply be another company to project its growth obssession on. It could be Apple services, or Peloton bikes or Subway sandwiches, they could not care less. Those companies aren't their customers; the investment houses, short sellers, market makers and pension funds are.

That's a theoretical argument.

The empirically existing stock market does quite well long term. Apple itself is over half a century old, as are many other big companies.

Maybe. But future generations (like yours kids) will have to pay dearly for our „growth at all cost“ mentality that uses up limited resources disproportionately and unsustainably.