You're talking about components and assembly, but that's not what's being suggested here. This was from a time period where there was almost universal consensus that Microsoft's horizontal business model (sell the OS and let other companies create hardware to run it on) was thought to have utterly and completely demolished Apple's vertical business model (create and sell both the hardware and the software that runs on it) for all time. The narrative was that Microsoft had beaten Apple in large part because the horizontal model was always going to beat the vertical model.
In hindsight, it obviously isn't that simple- there's room for both models in the industry, and each has its own set of risks, rewards, strengths, and weaknesses, all of which are constantly changing as the industry evolves. But yeah, that particular item isn't telling Apple to outsource assembly and components, it's telling Apple to stop even thinking about hardware and to try to become Microsoft circa 1997.
In hindsight, it obviously isn't that simple- there's room for both models in the industry, and each has its own set of risks, rewards, strengths, and weaknesses, all of which are constantly changing as the industry evolves. But yeah, that particular item isn't telling Apple to outsource assembly and components, it's telling Apple to stop even thinking about hardware and to try to become Microsoft circa 1997.