I think the Truth is Somewhere in the Middle
Wow it took like a couple of hours to read through all of these posts and sort through the emotions, the FUD and the facts. I think the situation is not that Apple is going out of business or Samsung is going to take over the world. It is somewhere in the middle. For disclosure sake - I am a Mac and iPad (3) user but have an Android phone (Razor Maxx). I will go through the 2-3 most important points in this area.
1)
Hardware is only part of the Equation - Truth be told, The G4 is a great phone - probably the best Android phone to date. But does that make Apple defeated or the iPhone 5 that bad. No. Keep in mind the most talked about aspect of the G4 is the screen size, the 8-core processor and its high res screen. The other aspects are independent of Samsung as they rely on Google for the core functional capabilities of the software environment. The screen size is probably the most item sought after by iPhone owners and it is one that would be most easily addressable by Apple. I find most of the Touch Wiz stuff to be fluff as I see it as "cool" but not something that would provide much functional use beyond what is provided in the core Android OS (Jelly Bean). The 8 core chip may not be that much of an advantage as it may include power that is not needed (therefore is waste) or it may not be as efficient as a better designed processor. (Anyone recall the original Intel P4 processor that had large clock cycle increase but worse performance than the AMD chips with lower clock speed at the time?). Fact is Apple does have an advantage as it designed its own chip with some unique characteristics that could make their 4 core processor (A6x) better than the 8-core option. Real world tasking will tell this. A final issue hardware wise where Apple can continue to lead is the Camera on their phone and iPads. This is where user's create content that they plug into their Apple/Android environment. People don't carry their cameras much anymore but rely on their phone camera's to capture those on the spot moments and push them to their photo and video libraries. Now with all the talk about megapixels - it is like the Screen megapixel wars. If the lens is not as good or the flash - a 13 megapixel cameral will suck compared to a 5 or 8 MP camera with a better lens. My 8 MP android phone takes lousy pictures in less than mid-day sunny light. I have been envious of the photos my iPhone friends take with their phone and then have pushed automatically to all of their devices while I have to launch Picasa Web and then find my photos in the gallery. Apple should improve the megapixel of their camera and the lens to offer a better overall camera and video experience. Again - they have done this with previous revisions - they can do it easily with the iPhone 6.
Software Makes the Difference - Here is where Apple needs to focus investment, It still makes the best feeling and best looking and designed hardware. My new 27 inch iMac, my iPad 3 are testaments to that. Hardware is not Apple's issue. While I still feel the quality of most of the Apps in the Apple Store is better than what is in the Android store - Google is developing and refining a software portfolio that is highly integrated because it was born on the web with a rich feature set. While Apple's software is high quality - it needs to be more integrated in the back-end (via the internet). They started with iCloud - but they need to do more. Integrate Mail, Cal, and Address Book more tightly and have it synched with all iDevices (which is currently done). However, I think the iCloud website experience Google's more closely so I can access all of my information and data through any device via the web. Second - Apple needs to continue feature development on iLife and iWork - key parts of the Mac and iOS software portfolio. Finally - they need to update iOS so it does offer more flexibility to offer something like a "Google Now" for the Apple environment. Apple does not need the needless "wizbang" features Samsung has seem to overload on - just increase the level of integration and add the thoughtful high value features.
Regarding Apple Innovation - Many times on this thread people say - Apple didn't create this - they bought it. Mostly in reference to the Retina display. That is not necessarily true. The fact is they did invent the technology behind the Retina display because they developed the technology to address edge discoloration that - when fixed makes an image sharper. Here is the link to the patent information -
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2012/06/apples-retina-display-patent-comes-to-light.html.
Also - Apple has started designing their own chips. The A6 and A7 are Apple designs and Apple has an in-house design and engineering team for this. I think this puts Apple waist deep in R&D and Design investment.
The fact is no company - Apple or otherwise - is guaranteed a dominant position. And now - google and Samsung have put up a worthy challenge. Not a company killing one - but a worthy one. They did it between Apple refresh and update cycles. Apple has a lot of design and engineering capabilities - they have a lot of talent and $170 billion in cash. They are fully capable of responding. Their one advantage is they control all the elements of their product. Samsung is still relying on Google - a company with a lot of talent and cash that might decide Samsung's influence in the Android market is not to their advantage and will work to be not as accommodating to Samsung. With little experience in developing and maintaining software - that is Samsung's weakness.
The threat here is software and integration - the real challenge to Apple is Google - not Samsung.
Funny thing about this pissing match - No one mentioned Microsoft anymore.
