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A dent? Yes. Taking it over? No. Apple will keep it’s core of hard-core loyal users, but that will cap out. They’re already losing total market share, and there are more Android phones being sold than iPhones. Apple catered mainly to the Apple faithful, and didn’t make much of a dent elsewhere.

The battle for the smart device market will end up between Nokia (who’s just a giant), Android (who’s got support from plenty of companies, including the budget builders in China), and Microsoft (who’s decided they want this market, meaning they’ll throw billions at it to get market and mind share).

Apple’s already being pushed out...

So, combine a falling market share with a lower profit margin, and I’m not sure how it’s corporate valuation is supported by other than hype - meaning, it’s in a bubble.

You wrote:

Apple’s already being pushed out...

So, combine a falling market share with a lower profit margin, and I’m not sure how it’s corporate valuation is supported by other than hype - meaning, it’s in a bubble.

Apple’s valuations aren’t all that high, based on the past 12 months of earnings - the P/E ratio is 22. Of course, if unit volumes of iPads, iPhones and iPods start flattening out or falling, or margins start tanking due to competition from Android products, then Apple stock is going to crater. Consumer products are a double-edged sword because unlike Macs, there’s no real lock-in - net margins are great on the upswing and negative on the downswing. If iPads, iPhones and iPods do see some impact from users buying Android devices, Apple earnings could collapse just as quickly as they went to the moon.

Which brings me to the $64,000 question - as a power user, do you think Android products are just as good as Apple iWhatever products, from a look-and-feel usability standpoint? Also, do you think Apple has even the remotest chance of displacing RIMM’s Blackberry for heavy (business) texters?