I think if you look at those examples actually the opposite is true. Apple is normally not the first-entrant into a market but is often the more successful later-entrant. But that doesn’t take away from the success of the early movers.

The iPod was not the first MP3 player, but it is the most memorable. Blackberry was around for years and Android existed as an OS years before iOS. Google was also first to tablets and wearables. There were/are many alternative Bluetooth headphones before AirPods.

These are all successful products by any measure. Android is on tons of devices. Bose and Sony (and many others!) make great audio devices. Apple just did it better for a lot of people.