Steve Jobs (Getty Images)
That didn't prevent more than 1 million people from snapping up the company's newest iPhone 3G S within three days after the device hit stores June 19. Like the previous two iPhone releases, the latest was met with long lines of eager buyers such as Dennis Martin.
The 42-year-old Web developer from North Hills waited more than four hours to get his phone the morning it came out.
"It replaces the guitar as the one thing I would take to a desert island," Martin said of his iPhone. "It just makes life so much easier."
While the market for high-priced smart phones such as the iPhone is expected to grow nearly 12% this year, according to projections from ISuppli Corp., the $244-billion market for personal computers is going the opposite direction.
Average prices for laptops plunged 23% in the first quarter of this year compared with a year earlier, while desktop computers slipped 11%, according to technology consulting firm IDC.
The emergence of lightweight laptops, called netbooks, priced as low as $250 each, has been responsible for much of the price erosion, said Richard Shim, an IDC analyst.
"Apple has no answer to that," Shim said. "Their laptops start at $999."
Shim noted that Apple has been able to buck trends in the past and could continue to do so now. The company has managed to grow its narrow slice of the home computer market from 3.3% in the first quarter of 2008 to 3.6% in the first three months of this year.
"Apple tends to defy convention," he said. "More often than not, it works out for them."
Being unconventional is a trait that Jobs has drilled into his company.
"Steve lives by the mantra 'Think different,' " said Tim Bajarin, a longtime Apple analyst. "It makes it impossible for us to predict with any level of accuracy what the company will do next."
That hasn't stopped legions of websites devoted to propagating the latest rumors about Apple from trying. The speculation has been particularly hot over an Apple tablet computer with a touch screen similar to the iPhone but larger. Fueling that chatter is Apple's purchase last year of P.A. Semi, which designs high-powered semiconductors that use less energy and could be used in mobile devices.
Another set of rumors revolves around Apple TV, a box that connects to TV sets and lets people buy TV shows or rent movies from iTunes. But the device has not caught on.
"Right now, game consoles are the de facto platform for bringing digital services to the TV," IDC analyst Danielle Levitas said. "There is a role for a more robust Apple TV experience."
Apple, which declined to comment for this story, has been characteristically tight-lipped about its upcoming product lineup.
"Apple believes in that Silicon Valley axiom," Bajarin said, "which is if you want to predict the future, invent it."
Bajarin says that belief stems from Jobs' "Think different" mantra.
Therein lies the last and perhaps most vexing challenge for Apple -- figuring out a long-term future without a man who is thought to be synonymous with the company.
"Once you remove him, there's a danger it could become more like a traditional company," said Rob Enderle, a technology analyst in San Jose. "Without Steve Jobs, can they still create magic?"
The 42-year-old Web developer from North Hills waited more than four hours to get his phone the morning it came out.
"It replaces the guitar as the one thing I would take to a desert island," Martin said of his iPhone. "It just makes life so much easier."
While the market for high-priced smart phones such as the iPhone is expected to grow nearly 12% this year, according to projections from ISuppli Corp., the $244-billion market for personal computers is going the opposite direction.
Average prices for laptops plunged 23% in the first quarter of this year compared with a year earlier, while desktop computers slipped 11%, according to technology consulting firm IDC.
The emergence of lightweight laptops, called netbooks, priced as low as $250 each, has been responsible for much of the price erosion, said Richard Shim, an IDC analyst.
"Apple has no answer to that," Shim said. "Their laptops start at $999."
Shim noted that Apple has been able to buck trends in the past and could continue to do so now. The company has managed to grow its narrow slice of the home computer market from 3.3% in the first quarter of 2008 to 3.6% in the first three months of this year.
"Apple tends to defy convention," he said. "More often than not, it works out for them."
Being unconventional is a trait that Jobs has drilled into his company.
"Steve lives by the mantra 'Think different,' " said Tim Bajarin, a longtime Apple analyst. "It makes it impossible for us to predict with any level of accuracy what the company will do next."
That hasn't stopped legions of websites devoted to propagating the latest rumors about Apple from trying. The speculation has been particularly hot over an Apple tablet computer with a touch screen similar to the iPhone but larger. Fueling that chatter is Apple's purchase last year of P.A. Semi, which designs high-powered semiconductors that use less energy and could be used in mobile devices.
Another set of rumors revolves around Apple TV, a box that connects to TV sets and lets people buy TV shows or rent movies from iTunes. But the device has not caught on.
"Right now, game consoles are the de facto platform for bringing digital services to the TV," IDC analyst Danielle Levitas said. "There is a role for a more robust Apple TV experience."
Apple, which declined to comment for this story, has been characteristically tight-lipped about its upcoming product lineup.
"Apple believes in that Silicon Valley axiom," Bajarin said, "which is if you want to predict the future, invent it."
Bajarin says that belief stems from Jobs' "Think different" mantra.
Therein lies the last and perhaps most vexing challenge for Apple -- figuring out a long-term future without a man who is thought to be synonymous with the company.
"Once you remove him, there's a danger it could become more like a traditional company," said Rob Enderle, a technology analyst in San Jose. "Without Steve Jobs, can they still create magic?"
