We all know what speculation can do. Sometimes its positive, sometimes its negative. But in my opinion this won't last. Not because Apple didn't do the right thing in the last few years but because if you look at both Microsoft and Apple businesses they're not quite the same beasts. Microsoft reaches way more businesses then Apple. Microsoft has a take on phones, tvs, smarthphones, but not only that. They have a very strong investment in R&D, robotics, home automation, industrial aplications, business applications, server applications. Microsoft is more easly compared to Google. Both focus on the software rather than hardware. Apple is a hardware company. You'll see their software running exclusivly on their hardware. Apple is much more similar to Sony than with Microsoft. Apple business is device level domination. Microsoft and Google focus on software level domination. In my opinion both business models are valid, but in the long run I think Microsoft and Google business model prevail. At least it has always been like this. Reason being people want freedom of choice to pick the right product for their wallet. So people ask themselfs. How easy will it be to maintain my data and applications going forward? Thats the real problem. The PC + Windows combination works because people can buy new PCs according to their present wishes and keep their old software running. When people pick Microsoft or Google products they don't have a single company product line to choose. They can buy devices from multiple hardware makers all competing to provide the consumer the best product for the price. And this inevitably leads to an healthier eco system. Now I understand people excitment regarding the iPhone and the iPod back in the day when it was released, but lets face it. It was the first product of its kind tailored to the consumer. There was no competition, but right now things are getting very different. Can anyone say with confidence that with Google and Microsoft competing software running on multiple cross-platform devices, that Apple will maintain the lead? I don't think so. And the rapid growth of the Android platform is proof of that.
I think Apple will remain strong, but their position will be maintained by people that are Apple fans. Much like people that only buy Sony or whatever. Now the right question should be. Can Microsoft maintain the lead against Google? Thats an entirely different question. For the time being Microsoft still holds software domination.