The iPhone wasn't invented by Apple, they just had a great combination of timing on manufacturing processes, great marketing and a decent UI to start with.

There is no doubt in my mind that we would've made the same progress with any other company, albeit perhaps cosmetic differences.

I think this is translatable to most other advancements. It's nearly always iterational, and either someone's first, different people discover something independently or it's a mashup of separate discoveries.

History makes geniuses, smart people exist everywhere.