If Apple could at least step up their game with their new generation iPhones, the competition and endless copying from Samsung/HTC/Sony/whatever would not even matter, as they would remain the undisputed market leaders, just as they were at the respective times of the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 - as nothing else at the time could really match the iOS experience.
In my opinion - the Apple of today is entirely different from the Apple I knew a few years ago. Competition is what drives the industry, a few years ago Apple were fully aware of that particular fact, and their entire business model rested on providing products, revolutionizing at heart, to completely redefine the user-experiences. The impressive part of Apple used to be the fact that no matter how hard competitors tried, as soon as they were approaching Apple - Apple took the industry, once again, to the next level. I may be exaggerating a bit, but this is how I remember it. Of course, Apple were perhaps not the first implementing new products, however Apple were the first to understand how these new products should be operating in order to provide the absolute best user experience for the consumer. The best example is of course the iPod. The iPod was not the first mp3 player. However, Apple were the first to understand exactly what type of features the user wanted. They were the first to understand how to provide these features in a nice looking, top-quality device, and how to market/price the product.
As of today, many consumers (I'm not saying that I do, but many others do) ask for larger phones, OS-widgets, improved notifications, NFC, or other new features, but Apple is fully asleep on their throne, while consumers who have waited far too long have started to look elsewhere. The Apple I knew were a company who provided these new features LONG BEFORE we even now we needed them, or before we even knew they were possible to implement.
Back in 2007 - None of us expected, or needed the features of the iPhone before it was introduced - the same goes for the iPod, the iPad (at least that's the general opinion, I don't need an iPad), the ability to download Apps, the ability to purchase songs online, LED-laptop screens (I remember my first MBP in 2007 with the LED-screen...), the MacBook Air, etc. et.c. However, today - Apple knows exactly what the consumers are asking for, but fail to provide it after so many years of wishful thinking. That said, the new Android phones have never looked more interesting than they do today, and I can honestly see why people switch. This has led to the increased sales of the competitors (especially the Galaxy-series) causing Apple to freak out - these lawsuits are clearly the result of Apple's concern. Considering the 10 million units sold of the GS4 during its first month, it's not exactly a surprise I suppose (even though I don't really get the appeal of the GS4).
That said Apple, get a grip of yourselves - stop these lawsuits and get back to what you do best - innovate and revolutionize!
Being a true Apple fan, it hurts me to say this - but the new HTC One is everything that the new iPhone should have been, and if Apple does not surprise me at WWDC, I'm going to give it a try real soon.
