I don’t know about the end of Apple’s dominance.

At least in the smart phone and tablet market (but not so in desktops/laptops) Apple’s prices are the same as competitors’ products. If you’re an average Joe, why take a chance and pay the same price for second best?

As far at laptops/desktops are concerned, prices have dropped to where they are affordable to everyone and computers are no longer a luxury. People are willing to pay a little more for that “affordable luxury” (the Starbucks concept).

Overall Apple has a good concept and the economies of scale to effectively compete.

I’m curious to see, when Apple enters the TV market, how they will price their products to compete with Samsung and LG.

[quote=briansd1]
At least in the smart phone and tablet market (but not so in desktops/laptops) Apple’s prices are the same as competitors’ products. If you’re an average Joe, why take a chance and pay the same price for second best?
[/quote]

Not true. Apple’s phones cost more than others unsubsidized. You, as a contract signer, do not see the difference because AT&T/VZW subsidize i-phone for you so that it seems like it costs the same as others.

However AT&T/VZW are suffering because of the massive subsidies that they are doling out to smartphone users so I question how long $200 iphones will last!

[quote=no_such_reality]LOL, and what percentage of the general population considers it gimped?

What percentage would know what to do with a non-gimped phone? I hear a Nigerian Prince has an ungimped phone, he’s willing to ship it to you, just wire him $50 okay?[/quote]
You fail to see that he thinks the general population are rock dumb stupid.

[quote=SK in CV]A little perspective is probably in order here. The largest company (by market value) in the world, just reported sales and earnings more than 20% higher than the previous year. It’s net income for the last 4 quarters is in the neighborhood of $8 billion, which will probably keep it in second place in the list of most profitable companies. It’s more than double the size of it’s nearest competitor in it’s sector in both market value and profit.

[/quote]

What many Apple investors who just look at these stellar numbers in isolation miss, is the fact that those great revenue/profits/margins are in large part the result of a gift from AT&T/Verizon/Sprint; which will not keep giving forever …

[quote=enron_by_the_sea][quote=SK in CV]A little perspective is probably in order here. The largest company (by market value) in the world, just reported sales and earnings more than 20% higher than the previous year. It’s net income for the last 4 quarters is in the neighborhood of $8 billion, which will probably keep it in second place in the list of most profitable companies. It’s more than double the size of it’s nearest competitor in it’s sector in both market value and profit.

[/quote]

What many Apple investors who just look at these stellar numbers in isolation miss, is the fact that those great revenue/profits/margins are in large part the result of a gift from AT&T/Verizon/Sprint; which will not keep giving forever …[/quote]

As long as AAPL has a product that the mobile’s customers want, they’ll keep paying. Did APPL make pretty sweet deals with them? Absolutely. One of the reasons they are among the biggest companies in the world is that they drive the hardest bargains. They are notoriously difficult with both vendors and customers alike. That won’t change. But the mobiles are making money selling iPhones. Unless other manufactures make a device that consumers want more than they want the iPhone, that dynamic is unlikely to change. (disclosure here, I’ve never had an iPhone, nor any other Apple product.)