Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Hits Middle-Age, Stop Expecting Much

Nobody wants to admit it but the disappointment is palpable. All the hype, anticipation, leaks, boiled down to a larger screen, a more powerful processor, 4G capability and a few other things added here and there.

That is the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s so called “iPhone 5” for you.

Newsweek's Dan Lyons wrote a piece just before the launch of the iPhone 5, which has become even more relevant now on hindsight and we have actually seen the phone.

"Is this really the best we can expect from an outfit that claims to be the most innovative company in the world? This is the sixth version of the iPhone and the user interface still looks almost exactly like the original iPhone in 2007,' said Lyons, who wrote for BBC.

"Now, having had two years to plot and scheme, Apple's renowned designer Jonathan Ive has replaced the tiny 3.5in (8.9cm) screen with a slightly-less-tiny 4in (10.2cm) screen? Wow. Knock me over with a feather. What do you do with the rest of your time, Jony?"

Truly. However the basic design of the screen remains the same - an oblong device with rounded edges, which the company has patented and is hotly disputing any rip-offs from anyone else.

According to Lyons, Apple, surprisingly, spends very little on research and development compared to companies such as Microsoft and Google. It spends only 2 percent of its revenues on R&D while Google and Microsoft have allocated about 14 percent of their revenues to it.

"No wonder the Android platform, where new models appear every week, now represents 68% of the smartphone market, up from 47 percent a year ago, while Apple slid to 17 percent over the same period."

There's a reason why Android phones are the largest selling smartphones in the world - at four times that of Apple.

"Worse, despite all its bluster about innovation, Apple has become a copycat, and not even a good one. Why is Apple making the iPhone bigger? To keep up with the top Android phones."

Apple seems to be dong the very thing that it is accusing its rivals of doing - copying their ideas and designs.

"Apple also has become a copycat in tablets. Jobs once said the iPad's 9.7in screen was the perfect size, and smaller tablets made no sense. Then the Android camp had success with 7in tablets like Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7, and now Apple supposedly will announce its own smaller iPad in October. Talk about thinking different!"

"Apple got where it was by taking bold risks. Now it has become a company that copies others and plays it safe."

Middle creeps up on you before you are aware of it. That's when you slow down and stick to the safe, tried-and-tested formulas.

Apple seems to have reached that stage. Now the event by Apple is no more exciting as it was used to in presence our beloved Steve Jobs. I wonder, if Steve was there today, he would have something to please the market. What do you think? Should we stop hyping Apple’s products and concentrate more on their tradition features.

Nevertheless, shares of AAPL ended 1.39% higher at near $670 on Wednesday.

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