Evidence that competitors are all over them.
Which means it is not "boutique niche." It has functionality that everyone raced to copy, and now a year later the iPhone finally has some serious competition. It's all good for the users, because Apple forced everyone else to get off their collective behinds and start making better smart phones. It also means Apple can't afford to stand still in iPhone development -- the rest of the industry needs something else to copy in order to advance. :)
Not according to the press:
"It's like a scene from a bad horror movie. Samsung and Research in Motion are among the companies trundling down the steps into the basement. And down there, waiting for them, is Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs and his chainsaw collection. Dudes, don't go down there."Apple's easy-to-use, media-friendly gizmo has cut deeply into the smart phone market. Six months after putting out the iPhone last year, Apple had seized 26.7% of the U.S. market in the final quarter of 2007. The assault was put on pause—with Apple dipping to just 19.2% of the market during the first quarter—as Apple reloaded with a faster iPhone. After it goes on sale July 11, however, it's going to be a long, hard year for Apple's rivals." — Forbes Magazine, Brian Caulfield, Attack of the iPhone Killers, 06/16/2008. Most of the punditry have compared the competitions' iPhone killers and found them wanting.