Excellent points, Kamutula. Glad you were able to add some additional insights and takeaways.

however, I have to wonder whether the analysts’ concerns might become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Although the company is still performing exceedingly well, but below analysts’ expectations, it will cause everyone to panic, including Apple itself, leading to poor/reactive choices and the beginning of the end..

Any thoughts?

1. Since the sad loss of their inspirational founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, clearly the direction has not been the same; and probably may never be the same. The path they took of pulling out series of game-changers all the time was/is difficult to sustain under these circumstances.

2. Having everything under their ambit: Hardware, firmware, operating system and various applications gives them greater control of not only what can and cannot be offered to what market niche but also greater flexibility in influencing any such niche.

3. Just as it has had adverse consequences, I am of the view that deviating from their niche, has had a lot of positive results. Most significant of them being that new diehard disciples have been added to the niche. Many of these may never have contemplated joining the niche had the “deviation” not been undertaken.

4. What remains to be seen is: the new “diehard” customers do they belong to the fluid and capricious ones of the Blackberry of yesteryear or are they those of the “Mac” of 35-40 long years?